SPOKANE, Wash — A mother’s love knows no distance and no time zone.
"We don’t know how long we’ll be able to communicate before, if the internet goes down," Jene Ray said.
It's why she logs in every chance she gets.
"Oh, multiple times a day," she said.
Checking in at all hours of cross-continental days. From Spokane to her daughter, Brianna Jones, in central Israel.
"What time is it there?” Ray asked the two faces on her laptop screen.
“Oh, 11 p.m. ," Jones and her partner, Daniel Arnon, checked their watches.
The couple lives an hour’s drive north of where the ground attacks are happening in Israel.
“We can see the rockets, we can hear the rockets," Arnon said.
"Everybody at some point has had to go into their bomb shelters. Including us," Jones added.
Arnon, a former Israeli soldier himself, spent Tuesday bringing donated supplies to fighters. He says the country is so united, it took hours waiting in a line of traffic to bring the clothing, water, and other items to those going onto the front lines.
Though just venturing outside takes bravery.
"A lot of police, a lot of army," he said. "Usually when you travel, it’s better to travel armed.”
Most are sheltering at home. Jones, who would normally host a dance class in the evenings, instead chatted with her students virtually as a way for them to connect as they stay home. She likens it to the quarantines of the pandemic, though with the added danger and fear that comes with having missed or dead loved ones.
Arnon missed the funeral of one of his former army commanders, killed in the first days of fighting as he assisted in hostage rescue.
There's an added uncertainty for the couple, as Arnon is still in the army reserves and has been told to stand by to possibly be called in to fight or help with rescue efforts.
"Even though we’re physically okay where we’re at right now, there’s not a single person who is emotionally okay in the slightest," Jones said.
An emotional toll shared thousands of miles away.
“Just watching Brianna over the past few days, she’s just sad," Ray said. "She doesn’t know what to do. And imagine me sitting here, I can do nothing. We can’t extract her, the airport is closed. No one can buy tickets. I’d bring Bri and Daniel both home in a minute if we could.”
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