Roni - baby Noa

Noa celebrated her first birthday in the shadow of the Coronavirus. Since her extended family could not be with them, because of the quarantine restrictions that were imposed on all of the population, Roni decided to give her daughter a birthday by ZOOM. Everyone had a great time and family not living under her roof could join in. Noa has passed many milestones this year. She has 6 teeth and has no trouble eating (and enjoying) whatever food is put in front of her. She has actually been walking since she was 9 months old and can even say a few words. As you can tell by the pictures, Noa is a happy baby. Her 6 other siblings adore her - even the next to youngest who is now 6 and no longer feels "displaced" as the 'baby'. Under normal circumstances, Noa goes to daycare so that her parents can work but that all changed a couple of months ago when all nurseries and schools shut down because of the virus. That situation has actually had its silver lining in that Roni and her husband have been able to witness the important 1st year milestones of their little girl and be a more active part of her life - something they could not have done if they had both been at work.

Roni is currently able to work from home but there has been serious talk of lay-offs at her job because of the countrywide economic shut-down of the last couple of months. Her husband is also currently employed as a painter and home and office renovator but his work is on-and-off. As long as her children are home from school, she cannot be too productive. The school-age children are learning remotely (by Zoom on the computer) during the day, so Roni needs to be up at night in order to get any work done. She is exhausted and waiting for things to get back to "normal."

Roni recalls her initial meeting with her counselor at Be'ad Chaim, after she had filled out the forms to have an abortion. She is so glad she hesitated long enough and rethought the abortion. She is also so glad and grateful to have participated in the Operation Moses program. The help was critical to her final decision to continue her pregnancy. Thank you for being a part of Noa's life.