We are sitting shiva for Kay. Rabbi David and Rabbi Helen, from West London Synagogue, are leading the prayers, David often suggesting that we allow our memories to flow and flood our hearts, even if they overwhelm the canonical prayer. For me this evening that is the case.
Kay, David says, loved the synagogue songs. I remember her so well, with her intense white hair, her piercing eyes, beside her beloved David, at the Shabbat morning service.
Ten years have passed since these first memories of mine, since I was halfway through my conversion preparation course in January 2012, and I would often meet Kay at various synagogue activities, and she would tell me that she liked the clothings I was creating, and spur me on to make a career out of it. To stay in London.
David, during the recent years, while you two were fighting Kay's own battle with illness, I often thought of you from afar with affection. Kay, I remember your smile, so bright even when your lips were slightly parted, and infused with courage, quiet determination and poised friendliness. I feel blessed to have known you, to keep you in my fond memories.
Baruch Dayan HaEmet. May Kay's memory be for a blessing.
Lucia Lior
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