3. My big Daddy

Playing God was fun and intriguing at such a young age, but more intriguing was my dad. i didnt see him much as a kid or in the teens for that matter. we started having some sort of rapport the year before i got married.

i dont know, knowing my mom, how she let me come by plane back from Israel with my dad. for those who know my mom, she is very over protective and panics…remember??…well, its weird, because i remember my mom not being as protective as she is. anyways…this chapter is about dad…

why did i start by my dad?? i honestly dont know…my mom was the predominant figure in my childhood, but for some reason, i looked up more to my dad than i loved him. i loved my mom, i missed my mom when i would be in school, but my dad, i would treat him like a friend, in a way…

i never called my dad, dad until was in my mid 20’s…i never called his name…i would say “hey!” believe it or not!! when i would need something or call him, i would go “hey!!”… until one night, i came to my parents bedroom. i was at the entrance, and my dad was sitting on the bed leaning forward like if he was putting on his socks. as usual, i blurted “hey!!” and he got pissed off. he told me in a stern voice, if i want to call him to either call him by his name or by father… i was taken by surprise at his reaction, but calmly i said ok “Jacky”!

Jacky is my father, big big man…as a child he looked like a tower, strong and tough. my dad is known obviously by his size, but also by his mustache. I have never seen him without a mustache…laughing out loud, i think he is the only one that pulls it off!!

i didnt see my dad much…he worked in the flea market. he sold lady shoes, and some dresses and would go to different cities every week and make a living. I know at first when we lived in Ekers, he was a lot with his friends in the building trying to figure out what to do…

my dad was born in Casablanca Morroco, January 15th, 1955. his father was Alberto, Avraham, which by the way i am named on and his mom was Esther, my baby sister was named after her aswell… he was a toddler when they all moved to Israel, living in the “illustrious” city of Giyora in Kfar Saba. He was one of 7, he was the second, but in reality he was and is still the leader of the family. my father is a very strong man, not only physically, but emotionally, mentally and character wise, he never took shit from no one, and stands by his beliefs, which i emulate until today and for the next 120 years.

he was his mother’s favorite while his eldest brother Jojo, was raised by his aunts. My dad tells us stories of his past as we grew up, but as a kid…my dad was this giant, who played with me, protected me and lent me his watch…i loved his watch and each time i would ask to wear it. it was a Seiko his father gave him. it had a red background, it worked with the pulse and was just a beautiful watch. anyways he would lend it to me, and the watch was so big, i would fit it around my biceps, and even at that!!

Eventhough he was somewhat of a stranger, i was always attached to him, i remember how we would sit together on the couch and he would play with my lips with his fingers…it would bother me, but i wouldnt say anything. i realize i do that with my kids. My job with my dad was to make coffee…”Avi, prepare moi un cafe” and i knew to heat up the water, put 1 coffee 2 sugars and milk. so many coffees, so many cigarettes…soo much that i think he smoke for me and drank my coffee, as i dont do both.

in Ekers we had a tight nit of friends and we would go camping, fishing together and my dad always tells me the story where i ran like crazy because my dad showed me the head of a huge fish he caught. i remember from my own experience, being with my mom and friends, and we had to go from one mini bridge to another, and at one point, i had to step ona  fish’s head to cross…

something i despised and hated was my dad’s passion for oriental music…

2. Awareness

From Barclay to Ekers we went. I was far from what i knew all my life, which at this point was…4years.

we had a nice appartment, my dad fixed it up nice, he did geometric and linear designs on the wall, my mom did the cleaning and the organization. My dad tells me that one day they were installing a new carpet in the room, and the carpet was blue, like the ocean. my dad and mom busy with the carpet i asked if i can dive in the pool? busy like they were, replied with a yes yes, sure…next thing you know BOOM, i banged my head on the floor…i dove onto the carpet!

Another time, i was playing with my Tonka truck, and out of the blue i ask my parents can i pee in the truck?? Again, my parents not thinking much of it, replied yes yes sure…next thing you hear is a soothing  sigh and pee splatering all over the cargo of my Tonka truck, and that’s when my mom goes Aaaaviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i wasn’t a trouble maker, or an annoying kid, i was mischievous and like to observe and test things…Later on as a toddler i loved watches, i had an obesession with watches…

My grandmother, and aunts and uncle had the most fun with me, since they were all at home with me. I had my aunt and uncle take me to the hospital because they thought i swallowed a needle, but the funny part, my mom knew about it maybe 10-15years later.

In my new house, i had a nice room, all alone to myself. my dad decorated with sports wall paper, i had toys, cars, legos, a tv, i even had a plane that was hung on the ceiling and that would turn round and round… my room window gave out to a forest filled with trees. we lived on the third floor, so we had a good view.

i remember watching superman, and my favorite the incredible hulk, which i called “hoik” and i would say to myself i wish i could jump over those trees!

Right next to my room, my parents had their room and my baby sister was there as well, Esther. She was born November 22nd, 1981. She was little, not too much hair, and quiet baby. being 4year old, i honestly didn’t understand or really care…i was a baby myself. as i grew up, my sis and I had great times together…

in that house, i remember a few occasions where i was with my sister. i remember a picture, where i am eating a yellow apple and my mom had Esther in her arms. Another time was the day i locked my mom and myself in my room, while Esther, a baby in her crib was alone in the other room… that was the adventure 🙂

i was supposed to get dressed to go out, and like an adult, or an idiot, i wanted to act like a big person, and locked us inside our room, since i didn’t want others to see me dress up… we were alone, it was sleepy Esther, my mommy and me…like i said i was acting like a naive innocent idiot. the funny part, and i still don’t know why, but the lock was on the outside of the room?!?

my mom…panics…panics and yells…by the way, my mom panics! :)she is trying to open the door, pulling, pushing, hitting, she is worried for Esther who is alone in the other room… i was calm, relaxed, and look out the window…what if i were superman??…

my mom took one of my toys to open the door and i objected, until one of our neighbour heard her, came upstairs, found a way to open the front door and unlocked the room…

Yup, the adventure of my locked room…and Esther was fine…no worries!

Another time was when i was playing with my “Cops” handcuffs. i put it around my bicep and i couldnt get it off…it was stuck and my mom…panicked…she called the cops, and when they came, they were nice and they broke it off, and again i objected…i was like “hey!!…” but did i have a choice!?

Awareness…what awareness…i remember when i played with cars. i used to love cars, and was so anal and a perfectionist, i had to park them in a certain way, drive it at a certain pace and speed…i was just a perfectionist at 5years old. while playing cars, i would drive it around the room and i had a carpet that looked like a neighborhood, with streets, school, houses…and i would say i am playing with these cars, the same way God is playing with us… the same way i am telling/pushing the car where to go, God must also be telling/pushing us where to go and what to do…i discovered, i became aware of God, and that in my little world i was playing God…

That is when i became aware without being aware of what i now know which is much, but not as much as i should.

How Avi was built? 1.World here I come

i always wanted to write a biography, but who has the time, right? then there is the excuse, what is there to write? is my life that interesting? what can i teach others, or how can i be an example??

questions, questions and more questions…but does anyone stop to find answers?…i do!

i was always taught that the smartest people are those who ask themselves questions and try to find the answer and solution. One thing i hate are useless questions…and yes, there are useless questions. Look it up, use the technology around you, use your logics, make that brain work, and you will find the solution or atleast a hint that will lead to the answer.

if you can read between the lines, you may have discovered that i love to analyse, dissect information and find the most effecient and effective answer.

my first memory as a child is the taste of the bottled milk. I must’ve been 3 years old and i remember wearing a red uniform and my mom gave me my warm bottle of milk. i lied down on the sofa and drank the milk…until today i can still taste the milk, like if it was yesterday! i don’t know why, but thats a picture i have in my mind as a child….blonde boy, two hands on the bottle and drinking milk!

30 years later, and i drink 2L. of milk a day with my protein shake… destiny? coincidence? whatever it is, i find it comical.

i have many other souvenirs from my childhood, but lets start at the beginning.

1.World here i come

December 5th, 1977 at 6:45am, I came in to this world. I was born in Israel, the Promise Land, which i only started loving later on in my life. On the first night of Hanukkah, the holiday of lights, was the day God chose for me to enter into this world. I made my parents proud, my grandparents ecstatic, and my aunts and uncles joyous over their first son, granchild and nephew. I was the FIRST of both sides…what an honor! 🙂

i don’t remember much, because at 8 months, i flew with my dad to montreal, where i still live in. My dad lived in Israel, and my mom in Montreal, Canada. They met there, married there, and came to Montreal to live, or atleast, according to my dad to give it a try…yeah right!!

here in Montreal, with my mom’s family, i was the center of attention, i was the highlight of the day and the bundle of joy that everybody wanted to see, play with, hug and kiss!!! Boy was i lucky…i wish i had a time-machine to see how it was from an oustide view…that’s one thing i always dreamed about, is to see my past like a movie.

when we arrived here, we lived with my granparents, my uncle, my aunts and ofcourse parents. i was so attached to my grandparents, i called them PAPA and MAMA, and my parents i would call them by their proper names, JACKY and CLEME. i did that for close to 20years…

i lived with Doris, the eldest aunt, David, my uncle, Gladys, the coolest aunt, my mom, who gave me life, my dad, who i looked up too, my grandfather which i loved and still love, and my grandmother, the sweetest lady in the world.

Avi, was around loving, caring people, and that is a start in life, which is crucial to every human being. Being loved and showered with kisses and hugs builds confidence, self esteem and love for one’s self.

i was a little boy, unafraid, wild, funny, cute and always smiling. stories that i hear from family of what i did, still make me laugh, and again ponder what if i can go back and see how i was, see how the 70’s were…i am a very nostalgic person, which can hurt, when it is time to take reality by the horns and drive it to the floor.

i grew up at my grandparents house, the house was always filled with love, and warmth. family, friends always filled up the house, and i loved being there, i felt secure, and like this house was the coolest house in the world…i remember saying when i grow up, i want my house to be like this, filled with life, energy and love.

Soon enough, the day came where my parents rented an appartment several minutes away from my grandparents, and a new life began, and also i had a new baby sister…Yup, i became a big brother….do i remember being a big brother? nope, not really, i just remember having a baby in the house, and no more…

It was hard moving out of my first home, to go to my first real home, but isnt life about adjustment and change? well…you learn, that you’re never too young to experience change in life.

Why then would my first chapter be how i was built, and not change in life, or new beginning, or even the beginning?…why how avi was built?

The answer is simple, a person is formed since he is a fetus up until his early years in life. these initial years in life, the mini life experience, the lessons, teachings, love, care, attention that a child gets, is the FOUNDATION of what he will become in life.

Avi, born in Israel, a sabra, rough on the outside and sweet on the inside, describes me perfectly even today. In Montreal, baby me, was shown love, warmth and family values, i am giving to my own children…

In conclusion, i was built by family members showing me nothing less than 100% of their unconditional love. My parents, mostly my mom, and grandmother built the warmth, care, love, compassion side of me, my father developped my analytical skills, toughness and respect. My grandfather built my love for numbers, order, organization and clean mouth. Doris, David and Gladys were all like big brother and sisters…they protected me, showered me with love and gifts…they built my heart, the capacity to love, open up and always have hope in life and the goodness of life itself.

…this is just the beginning… 🙂 my life has just started with a solid foundation of core values and morals…now place for a new home and baby sister…

Beginner blogger, long time writer

This is the first blog that i write…July 27th,11:54pm 2010.

it is my friend, Michael Shaw, that introduced me to this blog. He knows how much i love writing, and love to share information.

Maybe in this blog site i can share knwoledge about life, parenthood, work, training, and more… who knows!

Anyways, we will see where this adventure takes me…last time i wrote those words, i married that person! 🙂

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