Lest It Be Forgotten After I Am Gone: The Tragedy Years - 2
...It was about this time that Elsa, on returning home one evening after an evening meeting which had not required my attendance, was accosted outside our house having her handbag removed by a man who then escaped in a waiting car...
Here is another episode in Raymon Benedyks' life story.
The loss of our firstborn aged 44 years was a tremendous blow to us, and in fact to a lot of people with whom he had remained friends all his life, one of whom had even travelled from San Francisco to see him in his final days. His funeral was very well attended, and everyone showed tremendous sympathy and support at the time and later. For Elsa and I it was akin to a limb being amputated without anaesthetic, which, in many ways it was. Diane and her two young sons were publicly very brave, and all through the experience demonstrated their determination to carry on with their lives.
In our case the lodge AGM, which Elsa was due to Chair and had previously been scheduled to take place the same day as Stephen's funeral, had been by agreement postponed for seven days, and it eventually took place under Elsa one week after the funeral. Elsa was very brave and the evening went off with love and affection being displayed all around. It was very heart warming.
And so our lives continued in the familiar routine of community work, social and family involvement. In the Lodge, Elsa's official two year term of office was completed, but no one could be found willing to replace her, forcing her to remain in office. In many ways this was most complimentary, but was also becoming very demanding because Elsa was just not able to do things in half measure, thereby committing herself to a continuous round of meetings of one kind or another almost every night of the week, and sometimes during the day too.
It was about this time that Elsa, on returning home one evening after an evening meeting which had not required my attendance, was accosted outside our house having her handbag removed by a man who then escaped in a waiting car. Fortunately Elsa was not harmed but the shock of it affected the way we conducted ourselves after the incident whenever we returned home at night, always ensuring that there was no one waiting for us in the shadows as we exited our car and scurried like frightened rabbits into the house.
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If you wish to make a donation to the Elsa Benedyk Memorial Fund, set up by her friends and colleagues entirely without Raymon’s knowledge to provide funds to support the children's ward of the Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem to commemorate her life of work with children in her nursery schools, it would be most gratefully received. The amount that you give will not be revealed to Raymon. He is not a trustee of the fund. Your cheque, payable to the Fund, should be sent to the fund's Treasurer Mrs I Dokelman, 14 Charville Court, 30/32 Gayton Road, Harrow, Middx HA1 2HT.
