Liav: Where did I get my name from?

My great-grandfather (Saba Poldi) was a Holocaust survivor and lucky enough to have lived a long life. He became very sick a few months ago in August, when I was still in my Mom's belly. My Mom and Dad and everyone else including him didn't know how soon it would happen but they knew that in the end he would pass away. But the whole time he kept talking about me and couldn't wait to meet me or "see me in diapers". To strengthen him, everyone kept telling him that he would be a great-grandfather soon, and that he will be able to play with me, make funny faces, do magic tricks and other things with me.

He got sicker and sicker, and the days leading up to the day I was born he didn't get out of bed for 3 days at a time except for the bathroom. He called Dad in the hospital minutes after I was born (Nov. 24th) and was so happy, the first thing he said was "I'm a great-grandfather"!

The next day, he asked my Mom and my sister to come and bring him to the hospital to see me. He was full of energy and happiness and stayed for more than an hour.. Here is a picture which shows us together and the smile I brought onto his face. It was one of his last smiles. A few days later he was ironically hospitalized simultaneously with me in the same hospital, in critical condition.

He died December 5th, 2008 in Ichilov Hospital, the same place I was born 10 days before.

My parents gave me the name Liav in honor of him. My Dad said that Saba Poldi was a kind of father figure to him, a 2nd father, father away from home.

Li - Av = Father to me (in Hebrew).