Just a perfect day
21/12/25 Four weeks ago mum caught pneumonia. Her breathing was raspy, and I was sure it was her last days. How long can a very old lady go on without eating and barely drinking? She would take a few zips of apple juice, maybe some sweetened tea. No food. No slice of bread cut into nine tiny squares and smeared with butter, honey and peanut butter. No soft egg. Not even a few spoonfuls of chicken soup. Her tummy was shrinking. Mum was going downhill. The GP had arranged palli
Jane
Dec 21, 20251 min read
AYAKA
9/12/25 Mum caught pneumonia a few weeks ago. She sounded terrible, her breathing short and raspy. She was listless, not eating, barely drinking. I was sure that was it. I’ve been sure before, many times. Probably since she first fell down the front stairs five years ago and broke six ribs. And then again three years ago when she broke her hip and leg. And countless times in between. I’ve even shortened my trips to see grandkids in Israel to a maximum of three weeks— such sh
Jane
Dec 9, 20251 min read
Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen
10.25 Last month while I was sitting with Mum, I reminded her that her birthday was coming up. Birthdays don’t mean much once you’ve passed 100. When I told her she was almost 102, she couldn’t believe it. Such a huge number couldn't sink in at all. Jane: Soon….its your birthday. You will be ONE HUNDRED and TWO ! Marysia: Me, ONE HUNDRED and TWO??? No, no…no...no as long. Jane: Not as long? It’s unbelievable. Unbelievable! Mum can’t hear well so it’s easier to communicate
Jane
Nov 22, 20251 min read
Two Peas in a Pod
22.11.25 Growing up, my parents’ friends would always pinch my cheek and say, “You look exactly like Marysia!” I hated hearing it. It annoyed me every time. Back then, I thought I was young, slim and cool — and Mum was different. Older, rounder, a bit stodgy. I was sure we were nothing alike. And yet, half a century later, here I am: that older, fuller, more stodgy woman. And suddenly I can see that we really were two peas in a pod. Most of mum’s friends are gone now, except
Jane
Nov 22, 20251 min read
Happy birthday sweet Marysia 💝 102 years old!
May this day, Simchat Torah, 2025 A day of mourning and a day to dance, See only peace in Israel, Gaza, and the whole Middle East. ❤️🩹 October 2025 To celebrate Mum’s 102nd birthday, I’d like to share a story about an unusual friendship — between her and her University lecturer. About a month ago, I was reading through a draft of mum’s life story and found myself thinking about all those years she spent at Melbourne University. She was a very mature-age student, studying
Jane
Oct 14, 20255 min read
Gloria Gaynor walks out the door
I often wondered whether Gloria Gaynor ever saw my video Dancing Auschwitz, and if so, how she felt about it. Did she mind that I used her song, I Will Survive, a short film where my father, my children, my niece, and I danced 'to life', to my father's survival, on the grounds of Auschwitz? I had no idea how she felt about Jews, or if her heart went out to Israel. When I uploaded my video in 2010, it went viral, and then was quickly taken down by Youtube due to a copyright c
Jane
Sep 26, 20252 min read
The Dancing Queen
Silent disco in the city Mum has always been the Dancing Queen. She told me that ever since she was a young girl, back in the 1920s, she loved to dance. Her father, a charmer, a good singer and dancer, would return home from an evening at a local tea room with a slice of creamy chocolate karpatka cake for her. Hearing him arrive, she would jump out of bed, and together they’d dance around the room. And she has loved dancing ever since. Then came the war. In 1939 everything ch
Jane
Sep 20, 20252 min read
Alive with wonder
31.8.25 This is footage from the time Mum got lost — and I panicked. But more than anything, it’s a glimpse into her essence: her love for the beauty, peace, and simplicity that surround her. We were staying in the hut. I thought Mum was outside in the garden, but when I went to call her, she was nowhere in sight. So I started searching — running down the road, to the right, to the left. I was scared a car might have hit her. I finally ran down the path that leads to the riv
Jane
Aug 31, 20251 min read
Our little refuge
3.8.25 I’ve written before about having international volunteers and long-term lodgers in my home. That all began after I separated from...
Jane
Aug 3, 20255 min read
Destination: 'Jane’s Place'
15.3.25 This morning, Akari, a 20 year old architecture student, flew back home to Osaka, Japan. This was her first overseas trip on her...
Jane
Jun 25, 20252 min read
From Belgium to Ashwood to Marysia
17.5.25 Mum has no idea that young people arrive from all corners of the world to spend time with her (actually, to help me care for her...
Jane
May 17, 20254 min read
A homage to my grandmother, Marysia
My daughter, Sunny, lives in Israel and is mother to Mia, Evie, Ben and Eitan. For the past 15 years she has been working as a midwife....
Jane
May 10, 20253 min read
The Bubble-wrap experiment
11.4.25 These blog stories are 'all about mum', but this time it's all about me, and a story about bubble wrap. One of my many challenges...
Jane
Apr 11, 20253 min read
Back from isolation
3.4.25 I'm back. The 10 days of silence have passed. No phone, no paper or pen, no book or notes to read. No-one to talk to except a guiding teacher if we have a question about the technique we are practising. At least 10 plus hours a day of sitting on a mat on the floor. I trust mum is ok because no-one has notified the centre with sad news. Selfish as it might sound, every day I sent mum a blessing that she'd be well and I wouldn't have to stop the retreat midway to go home
Jane
Apr 3, 20251 min read
Should I stay or Should I go?
3.4.25 Because I work behind the scenes at the Vipassana meditation centre, it’s important that I try to sit at least one '10 day...
Jane
Apr 3, 20251 min read
All the way from Rome to Marysia, with love
16.3.25 Before travelling to Krakow and Israel in January, I knew I needed to organise some extra help with mum. I received a wwoofing...
Jane
Mar 16, 20254 min read
Two fine young actresses
2.3.25 When Salvatore Trapani (art historian, author and the brains behind the project ‘Echoes of Hope’) first commissioned a piece of...
Jane
Mar 2, 20253 min read
'Echoes of Hope: Art and Memory of the Holocaust'
The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz January 2025 Krakow, Poland 20.1.25 In my previous post I mentioned that I was flying...
Jane
Feb 1, 20252 min read
'I don’t want to destroy anything for you'
14.1.25 The time has come to say both goodnight and goodbye to mum. In a few hours I’ll be heading to the airport for the 26 hour flight...
Jane
Feb 1, 20252 min read