“Let me reveal a secret to you. How old am I? 70, right? When I was 20, I met a French girl in Tiberias while I was a soldier in the army, a tankist. She was beautiful. We spent the whole summer together in Israel—three and a half months. But when her summer vacation ended, she had to return to France. She was studying to become a doctor. Not long after she left, I got a phone call from her. “Come! Come!” That’s all I needed to hear. That same night, I flew to Toulouse. I ended up living in France for a year. I even proposed. But two days before the wedding, I left. I realized I couldn’t do it—I couldn’t live in France. It wasn’t Israel. It was hard for me. I made a huge balagan, a huge, huge balagan. And that was that. When I came back, I reconnected with my wife—the woman I had known since I was 12. We met on Kibbutz Beit Zera. I wrote her a letter, left her a message, and eventually, she called me back. We got married when I was 21, and we’ve been together ever since. And I’m okay. But the girl from Toulouse… she never left my mind. And at the same time, I love my wife. What can I say? The girl from Toulouse was amazing, but I just couldn’t do it. She wasn’t Jewish; she was Catholic. I didn’t care about that. But I knew I couldn’t live in France. Israel is my home. It will always be my home. Still, she’s always there, in the back of my mind. It’s hard. But I really love my wife. Every morning, I give her a massage. Every morning. We’ve been married for 50 years now. And let me tell you something—you should expect no less from your husband. When you truly love someone, the greatest joy in life is growing old together."