|
|
Home
and Family
Changing Gears
by L.M.W.
Times change and you have to be flexible enough to
adapt to new situations. Yesterday, you ran errands
for Mom and Dad and got a mitzva note for
them in return that would grace the wall in the
kindergarten. Today, if you have to run errands for
them, you have your own immediate family to tend to
and numerous obligations, and you feel you must
juggle your time to get out and do them. Ten
children cannot care for one mother, so the saying
goes. They remain eternally indebted to her and
cannot begin to return what they owe her. To the
children, it may be an obligation. To the mother,
child care was a raison d'etre.
It takes special determination and a lot of love to
change gears. Role reversal is difficult for
members of both generations. It can be traumatic.
It can be beautiful. Picture the following
scenarios:
Father, the patriarch of the family, maintains his
grace and dignity, but is a shadow of his old self.
Father, the first to rise, the person who woke up
the boys day in, day out, rain or shine, is
homebound. And now his daughter, a grandma herself,
wakens her father with a cheery melody and smile. A
devoted son travels to his sister's home before he
goes to shul to lovingly prepare the Tatta
for davening.
Round the clock, children and grandchildren visit,
spending top quality time together. A grown
granddaughter presents a short model lesson about
the approaching Yom Tov, replete with motions,
stories, illustrations and modern visual aids. A
son sits on the porch with the Tatta, singing
stirring shalosh seudos zemiros for a full
half hour, taking the father back to the golden
olden days when he sat at the head of the table.
Every day becomes an occasion. With new variety.
New stories. New songs. New grandchildren growing
up with new nachas. Mitzvos fresh and
beautiful, day in, day out, which nurture a father,
promote great love between parent and child and
between siblings.
Our Father sees it all. He gathers every teardrop,
all the sweat and the effort, every ounce of
patience. Samples of the love they would
demonstrate if He would dwell among them, precious
acts of devotion forming the foundations for a
permanent dwelling place for the Shechina on
earth.
|
