Cyril Gold
03-07 2020 15:28
wrote:
I met Ruven in late 1979 so have had the pleasure of knowing him for 40 eventful years. Never
the slightest disagreement or fall out with him, and have to say of all the losses of family and
friends over the past few years none have been so deeply felt as that of your Dad. A
wonderful man and an incredibly big loss to me and indeed, to humanity.
We holidayed together numerous times (full family and as a foursome) in Europe, Israel etc...
so to pick just one or two memories is extremely difficult, but have chosen a couple that come
to me on a regular basis.
• You will remember we went on a skiing holiday in Lenzerheide, Switzerland,
driving there in two large cars (4 of us, and 6 of you including Loretta’s mother
Ellen)..... All could ski to various levels but Loretta and her mother were most
certainly more experienced... I would try anything (falling over most of the time)
but Ruven and Sandra were quite content to relax whilst we knocked ourselves
out on the slopes. One memorable afternoon, we had all gone up and descended
when it started to get dark. We all came down, but we waited and waited for
Loretta’s mother to reach us. After half an hour and now dark with the ski lifts
having stopped, no sign of Ellen, so we reported this to the ski authorities who
started a search for her....... Ruven made all the family go back to the hotel whilst
he and I waited at the bottom of the slope.
• A further half hour (and now very dark) we saw some lights speeding down the
mountain with a stretcher between two skiers.
Loretta’s mother had only slipped and decided to wait for two hunky men to bring her
back down, laughing most of the way down! As soon as they reached us Ruven
genuinely took some money out of his pocket and asked the two men how much money
they needed to take her back up to the top of the mountain and leave her there!!
• The other one that comes to mind, was whilst I had been to Israel a couple of
times previously, we had a complete family holiday there when you Jamie, must
have been 6 or 7. We had a great time and Ruven insisted one day that we go
to Masada. A memorable and hot day.
• We went up by the Cable car. Fantastic views as you go up and I was standing at
the front of the Cable Car with Ruven when I turned to say something to him and
he wasn’t there. I looked around, but he wasn’t behind me. He was actually on the
floor next to me, a wonderful shade of sickly green! He explained that whilst he
had jumped out of Israeli planes by parachute during various conflict periods, he
felt sick due to heights and particularly that Cable car trip. He sat on the floor the
rest of the journey up.... Following our tour of Masada, we decided to walk down..
These are my two instant memories. However, I will be forever grateful that we
managed to meet up with Loretta and Ruven on our last holiday in Israel (Pesach 2019). Their
first day was our penultimate day, but we arranged to meet up on a crowded Tel-Aviv beach
around 12.30. Lauren and I had walked from Bat-Yam and arrived 5 mins before Loretta & Ruven
and met exactly where we had arranged, but after half an hour, Ruven (forever peckish!) said
“let's have lunch”. We were close to Carmel Market, so he suggested rather than eat at the busy
beach eateries, he would take us to a place he knew. We went to a small side road immediately
off Carmel Market (where you would never think of eating...) and had without doubt the best fish
and chip meal (cooked beside us at the stall). It was not only the best, tastiest and most
memorable meal of the complete 10 day break, it will always be extra memorable as the last
meal for us all together.
Ruven returned to the UK to have his operation soon after and we all know the story after
that........... I can still taste that meal..
Cyril
Cyril Gold
03-07 2020 15:28
wrote:
I met Ruven in late 1979 so have had the pleasure of knowing him for 40 eventful years. Never
the slightest disagreement or fall out with him, and have to say of all the losses of family and
friends over the past few years none have been so deeply felt as that of your Dad. A
wonderful man and an incredibly big loss to me and indeed, to humanity.
We holidayed together numerous times (full family and as a foursome) in Europe, Israel etc...
so to pick just one or two memories is extremely difficult, but have chosen a couple that come
to me on a regular basis.
• You will remember we went on a skiing holiday in Lenzerheide, Switzerland,
driving there in two large cars (4 of us, and 6 of you including Loretta’s mother
Ellen)..... All could ski to various levels but Loretta and her mother were most
certainly more experienced... I would try anything (falling over most of the time)
but Ruven and Sandra were quite content to relax whilst we knocked ourselves
out on the slopes. One memorable afternoon, we had all gone up and descended
when it started to get dark. We all came down, but we waited and waited for
Loretta’s mother to reach us. After half an hour and now dark with the ski lifts
having stopped, no sign of Ellen, so we reported this to the ski authorities who
started a search for her....... Ruven made all the family go back to the hotel whilst
he and I waited at the bottom of the slope.
• A further half hour (and now very dark) we saw some lights speeding down the
mountain with a stretcher between two skiers.
Loretta’s mother had only slipped and decided to wait for two hunky men to bring her
back down, laughing most of the way down! As soon as they reached us Ruven
genuinely took some money out of his pocket and asked the two men how much money
they needed to take her back up to the top of the mountain and leave her there!!
• The other one that comes to mind, was whilst I had been to Israel a couple of
times previously, we had a complete family holiday there when you Jamie, must
have been 6 or 7. We had a great time and Ruven insisted one day that we go
to Masada. A memorable and hot day.
• We went up by the Cable car. Fantastic views as you go up and I was standing at
the front of the Cable Car with Ruven when I turned to say something to him and
he wasn’t there. I looked around, but he wasn’t behind me. He was actually on the
floor next to me, a wonderful shade of sickly green! He explained that whilst he
had jumped out of Israeli planes by parachute during various conflict periods, he
felt sick due to heights and particularly that Cable car trip. He sat on the floor the
rest of the journey up.... Following our tour of Masada, we decided to walk down..
These are my two instant memories. However, I will be forever grateful that we
managed to meet up with Loretta and Ruven on our last holiday in Israel (Pesach 2019). Their
first day was our penultimate day, but we arranged to meet up on a crowded Tel-Aviv beach
around 12.30. Lauren and I had walked from Bat-Yam and arrived 5 mins before Loretta & Ruven
and met exactly where we had arranged, but after half an hour, Ruven (forever peckish!) said
“let's have lunch”. We were close to Carmel Market, so he suggested rather than eat at the busy
beach eateries, he would take us to a place he knew. We went to a small side road immediately
off Carmel Market (where you would never think of eating...) and had without doubt the best fish
and chip meal (cooked beside us at the stall). It was not only the best, tastiest and most
memorable meal of the complete 10 day break, it will always be extra memorable as the last
meal for us all together.
Ruven returned to the UK to have his operation soon after and we all know the story after
that........... I can still taste that meal..
Cyril
