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Every day is Memorial Day: A mother's daily battle with grief and the choice to live - opinion

From Jerusalem Post · (25m ago) English Positive tone

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Shirit Yerushalmi, mother of Eden Yerushalmi who was abducted and murdered on October 7, shares her daily struggle with grief.
  • She describes Memorial Day as just another day, as her pain and longing for her daughter are constant.
  • Yerushalmi finds commemoration through writing a book in her daughter's memory, emphasizing that bereaved parents are always waiting and need to ensure their child's death was not in vain.

In a deeply personal and poignant reflection, Shirit Yerushalmi offers a raw account of life as a bereaved mother, a reality she never imagined would be hers. Her daughter, Eden Yerushalmi, was abducted on October 7 and tragically murdered in captivity in Gaza. This experience has transformed Yerushalmi's perception of Memorial Day, rendering it indistinguishable from any other day marked by profound grief and an unending wait for her child.

Because every day is longing. Every day is pain. Every day is a feeling of something lost forever. Every day I am a bereaved mother. And every day I get up again. Every day I choose life again. I choose to breathe. I choose to continue.

— Shirit YerushalmiDescribing the unending nature of her grief and her daily commitment to living.

Yerushalmi articulates a truth often unseen by those who have not experienced such loss: the daily battle to choose life. She describes the immense effort it takes to simply get out of bed, to smile, to engage in everyday activities, and views these as significant achievements. The constant internal struggle is invisible to the outside world, which only notices the heightened atmosphere of remembrance on Memorial Day itself.

There are two things that define bereaved parents. The first is that they are always waiting for their child. It does not matter how much time passes. A parent cannot contain the death of a child. So I wait for Eden, and I will wait for her all my life.

— Shirit YerushalmiExplaining the profound and perpetual sense of waiting experienced by parents who have lost a child.

For Yerushalmi, commemoration is not confined to a single day. It is an ongoing process, a vital need to ensure her daughter's death holds meaning. Her book, 'Flying with Broken Wings,' written in Eden's memory, serves as a testament to this, a way to feel her daughter reborn. This act of creation, and the constant, 24/7 remembrance, defines her existence as a mother who continues to wait, to commemorate, and to live, despite the unimaginable pain.

There is not a moment when I do not think about Eden. Even when I do not say it. Even when I do not show it. Even at night.

— Shirit YerushalmiEmphasizing the constant presence of her daughter in her thoughts.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Jerusalem Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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