Every once in a while, one of those relationships develops into something more. Hannah: I grew up in a very Jewishly-involved family. I went to Jewish day school, sleepaway camp, was involved with Hillel in college, had visited Israel on a Federation trip. I played sick to get out of a training course and was accepted to join a trip. Now I was surrounded by 40 of them! I saw Hannah on our first night at dinner by the Tel Aviv port. I thought she was a nice Jewish girl, very cute.
And from then, we were together the rest of the trip. But we sat together, ate together every night, looked for excuses to be around each other. Hannah: The day before Birthright ended, Gilad came back to see me. So we went back to our normal lives.
I went back to college, Gilad finished his army service and went to college. We talked and Skyped a lot, but nothing was official.
Of course, Gilad picked me up at the airport. Gilad: When Hannah landed in Israel, I introduced her to my family right away. They knew we were texting for months. They loved her immediately. Hannah: After Career Israel, I decided to stay. Gilad sent my resume to some high-tech companies, and I got a call from a start-up looking for a native English speaker. Even though it had crazy hours, I took the job.
I ended up there for three years. Gilad: We became so close. When I was ready to propose, I was very subtle. She likes going for walks at night, so I took her on a walk to where we met on Birthright.
