Too often I would hear the phrase "why would anyone want to hear my story? I'm just 'brother of'", and I would cringe in my seat, close my eyes and remember all those things that were just ours.
only yours.
On the half-cooked corn schnitzel you used to eat, on your little bullies in the middle of the day, on the long conversations you spent time driving, on the shared dreams, on your smile, on your smell.
Because there are stories that only siblings can tell.
For almost eight years now I have sadly and longingly carried the title of bereaved sister.
For five years now, the "Our Brothers" association has been working for and for bereaved brothers and sisters.
Since the establishment of the state the discourse on the brothers has been transparent.
Brothers and sisters had one role - to keep and be strong for the parents, to be a torch that leads the family memorial camp.
Military cemetery, archive, Photo: Miri Tzachi
And here, in recent years the brothers have a place to tell their personal story at eye level.
To tell the story of the life before and after, of dealing with the heavy degree imposed on us.
A degree that I carry on my narrow shoulders, when I want to present Tal everywhere and tell our story, and mine as a bereaved sister.
"Commemoration" is a big word, even for us, the bereaved.
We know there is nothing left forever.
Even our world of memories is shrinking - the voice I used to hear sounded very dull to my ears today;
His look when he is angry, happy, sad, occasionally helps connect a portable drive to a computer.
Whereas when I tell of it, it is different.
People continue me, my story, my longing.
Take some from me to them, even if it's only for one day.
In the coming day of remembrance you will get to know them through us, through their life that was and continues to be in our hearts, through our coping, through the choice of life.
Noy Perry is the sister of the late Sgt. Tal Yifrach, who was a fighter in the Walnut Brigade's Walnut Unit and fell in battle in Operation Eitan.
In 2017, Noy joined Alyssaf Peretz, the brother of the late Uriel and Eliraz, and together they founded the "Our Brothers" association, with the aim of creating a supportive and empowering community for brothers and sisters in the Israeli bereaved family.
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