An Important Holiday for Etty

Laura, who supports Etty, tells us about their trip to Israel earlier this year:

We went for a week, for my twin great-nephews' Bar Mitzvah and to see family; my son lives in Israel with his family too. I've been to Israel with Yitz may times before and this was Etty's second trip.

Before we left, I explained the holiness of Israel to Etty because I feel it's important for her to understand this and why the wailing wall and the tomb of Rachel are such special places for Jewish people to pray. Etty was so excited to go on the plane and visit the cockpit! She was also looking forward to seeing my son and his family, celebrating with them and to doing all the things we had planned.

The flight was lovely. Etty charmed the crew; she really loved flying and looking out the windows. It was a four and a half hour flight so we took a sensory bag for her, with a whiteboard, pens and her dolls so she had lots to do and didn't get bored. She struggles to stand for long periods so we got to jump the queues at the airports and there were benches for her to sit on while we waited for our bags to come off the plane.

Our visit to the wailing wall is my most cherished memory of our trip - I also enjoyed hearing her telling people about her experience and seeing her having fun with my grandsons; they are so accepting of her. Etty loved everything - 'it was fun' - especially the ice cream and eating out quite a bit, which is important to her.

It was a great trip, we crammed so much in - barbecues, suppers, trips out and doing things as a family. The bonding tiem for the family was great too as Etty got on so well with everybody, we will definitely be doing it again - there was nothing negative!

My tips for carers planning something similar? Go prepared for the journey; a flight can be a long time. Pack a sensory bag of things to keep people occupied. And make sure you always have a bottle of water when you're going somewhere hot!

To read more about Etty, Laura and Yitz, click here.

Want to know more about Bury Shared Lives? Click here.

Read more case studies from across Persona - just click here.

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