My greatest fear is forgetting my mother.

It is a simple sentence, but for me it carries the weight of what I have lost and what I have created.

I am 46 years old, a mother of three, a personal stylist, and, until recently, a fashion design student. I came to Haifa from Eilat during my military service in the Navy and fell in love with the city. I built my life here. For years, I dreamed of studying fashion design, but like so many, I kept putting that dream aside for the demands of family, work and everyday life.

Five years ago, I found myself working backstage at a University of Haifa fashion show, watching students bring their ideas to life. I was surrounded by creativity and possibility. Something shifted in me. I realized that the dream I had postponed for so long had not disappeared. It was still waiting for me.

So, at 42, I finally went back to school. I could not have known then that my years of study would also become years of profound loss.

During my first year at the academy, my father died. During my second, I lost my mother.

Design gave me somewhere to put the emotions I did not know how to carry. I discovered that creating something with my hands could be a form of healing.

My graduation collection is dedicated to my mother.During the final year of her life, she lived with dementia. I watched thea disease gradually take away abilities that had once been........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)