הרעיון המרכזי

When Miriam Cohen was a child in Morocco, she never learned to swim. Her family lived far from the sea, and girls in her town did not usually do sport. When she came to Israel at the age of twenty, she was afraid of the water. For forty years, she sat on the beach in Netanya and watched her children and grandchildren swim.

Everything changed on her sixtieth birthday. Her granddaughter, Shira, gave her a strange present: ten swimming lessons. "At first I was angry," Miriam remembers. "I said, I am too old for this! But Shira said, Grandma, you are never too old to learn something new."

The first lessons were very hard. Miriam was afraid to put her face in the water, and she could not breathe correctly. After each lesson she was very tired. But her teacher, Avi, was patient. He never laughed at her, and he always told her what she did well.

After three months, Miriam swam twenty-five metres for the first time. Today she is sixty-two, and she swims at the pool three mornings a week. Last summer she swam in the sea with Shira for the first time. "It was the happiest day of my life," she says.

When Miriam Cohen was a child in Morocco, she never learned to swim. Her family lived far from the sea, and girls in her town did not usually do sport. When she came to Israel at the age of twenty, she was afraid of the water. For forty years, she sat on the beach in Netanya and watched her children and grandchildren swim.

Everything changed on her sixtieth birthday. Her granddaughter, Shira, gave her a strange present: ten swimming lessons. "At first I was angry," Miriam remembers. "I said, I am too old for this! But Shira said, Grandma, you are never too old to learn something new."

The first lessons were very hard. Miriam was afraid to put her face in the water, and she could not breathe correctly. After each lesson she was very tired. But her teacher, Avi, was patient. He never laughed at her, and he always told her what she did well.

After three months, Miriam swam twenty-five metres for the first time. Today she is sixty-two, and she swims at the pool three mornings a week. Last summer she swam in the sea with Shira for the first time. "It was the happiest day of my life," she says.

When Miriam Cohen was a child in Morocco, she never learned to swim. Her family lived far from the sea, and girls in her town did not usually do sport. When she came to Israel at the age of twenty, she was afraid of the water. For forty years, she sat on the beach in Netanya and watched her children and grandchildren swim.

Everything changed on her sixtieth birthday. Her granddaughter, Shira, gave her a strange present: ten swimming lessons. "At first I was angry," Miriam remembers. "I said, I am too old for this! But Shira said, Grandma, you are never too old to learn something new."

The first lessons were very hard. Miriam was afraid to put her face in the water, and she could not breathe correctly. After each lesson she was very tired. But her teacher, Avi, was patient. He never laughed at her, and he always told her what she did well.

After three months, Miriam swam twenty-five metres for the first time. Today she is sixty-two, and she swims at the pool three mornings a week. Last summer she swam in the sea with Shira for the first time. "It was the happiest day of my life," she says.