CL Lakewood Reception 2016 Fruchthandler

when a yid wakes up in the morning the first thing he says is thaning the he returned his to him I never realized the magnitude of this daily until one day when it did not quite happen was just about 8 years ago when our 22-month old daughter just didn't wake up in the morning they started out as what we thought was a regular Tuesday I had left early for the day and my wife was taking care of the other children whilea while assuming was just inly catching up on some sleep when the kids were settled my wife went to a crib to check on her to be sure she was okay but she wasn't the cute little baby she put to sleep the night before was now hardly conscious with her eyes rolling as we lived in at the time she was rushed into Shar sedic hospital when I met him there I took one look at my daughter and knew that something was very wrong we needed a lot of RA they ran a battery of tests and finally a doctor came out and informed us that there was a mess on her brain it might be ay it might be BL blood or it may be a Tuma obviously we hoped for the best with much it was arranged for her to be transferred Tov Hospital in Tel Aviv that Happ there a surgeon in the country the doctors Brave the transport and after having to pull off to the side the road several times to stabilize her we miraculously made it toov we thought we were coming to take an MRI me with this tap doctor and see what his thoughts are but all of a sudden his associate appeared in front of me with a paper and pen and said sign when I started to question her about what I was signing she gave me one of those piercing looks and said if I stop to explain we may lose your daughter so I signed rushed into emergency surgery without even a chance to have a pre Mar was a critical situation after many long hours of TW and tears the doctors came out and broke the news to us our daughter had a brain tumor hey was a day that will be etching our minds forever but it was also a day when i k who set us on a journey a journey with many ups and downs many twists and turns many [Music] n a journey that we still continue to travel we moved to Lakewood after that initial initial surgery and since then Kai Lifeline has been at our side traveling this journey with us when crisis hits when a child is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness there's an overwhelming feeling of life as you knew it falling apart in front of your eyes I remember a specific moment right before my daughter was beginning treatment I came out of a visit to a doctor with such a heavy heart as I try to imagine the ramifications the situation would have on on each member of our family and on the family as a whole obviously our daughter needed a rafu and that ultimate Yeshua was in the hands of the but alongside that there were many worries there was the worry that the should have the strength to endure the treatment and all that it entails there was the worry that the other children should be well taken care of that the need should be met both physically and emotionally this is not a simple task when parents are in and out of the hospital and are sometimes away for extended periods of time but that's where Kai Lifeline comes in K Lifeline is not just a name on a banner it's a network of incredibly devoted individuals who spend most of their waking hours using their hearts and Minds to ease the burden of and their families the famous last words of our case manager Nam stavsky are as follows tell me what's going to work for you and we'll make it happen although making it happen always comes across as seamless and effortless we know that it's only because of the entire team that's behind the scenes ensuring that all details of all the arrangements run smoothly says that the word is a miracle because it it takes a miracle to withstand any anyone who has gone through illness or any kind of Crisis will attest and in such a situation it truly is miraculous to be able to maintain a family's balance to maintain a normal schedule whether in or at work and simply to maintain your sanity High LIF la is an organization that realizes that the only way to help a family cope with abnormal circumstances is by providing them with as much normality as possible and they also realize that for every family this means something different we were always amazed how high Lifeline NE came and told us what they thought we needed but rather came and saw what we really needed they stepped into our shoes into our home into our daily schedules and valued what was important to us I remember my first encounter with Rabbi freed years ago when my daughter was about to start her first protocol of chemo it was the beginning of a long Winters man and he sensed the turmoil inside me I knew the that rested on my shoulders and I couldn't imagine being able to combine that with an to a normal schedule I felt that the responsibility to shuttle back and forth between our house and the hospital and at the same time to be on hands for our other children because my wife was with would make it impossible to accomplish anything else said to me you can be in B we will be available for the transportation we will be ready to take care of your children when you can't and you will be able to be focused on what you need to do without worrying about everything else when it comes to high Lifeline there's no manual that they come with there's no protocol that they follow and there's no such thing as we don't do that it's completely personalized and taor made to meet each family's needs High Lifeline takes on the type of situation where many factors cannot be changed but anything that can be changed anything that can be worked around anything that can make an unbe bearable set of circumstances a bit more bearable they will do as my daughter once said only asem can take away my pain but lifeline and cim make it easier make it easier for me to handle it imagine the relief my wife felt while sitting in the hospital for 12-hour tree ments knowing that the other children will being well taken care of by dedicated volunteers volunteers who have literally become part of our family imagine thees these volunteers provided Us by showing up time and time again on minute's notice during the day and sometimes even at night to take over in the house when we had to rush into the hospital in emergency Imagine The Joy they brought our children by bringing them special aravan packages with our with not signed in our names so that they would feel we were with them during times and writing such notes was way beyond our ability obviously the kids would rather have their parents at home but with kma and understanding these high Lifeline girls really is pain a few years ago developed an acute infection and went into septic shock she pulled through but it was a long and grueling recovery when she finally arrived home it was extremely challenging she was so weak she was completely immobile and even the slightest bit of noise irritated her coming to the rescue as always our case manager hired a girl to come to our house every morning from 7:45 to 9:00 to give the the full-time care she needed away from the regular leite of the morning routine the other children were able to get the case the care and attention that they so badly needed and this enabled everyone to start their day in a more relaxed way a couple of months ago there was some complications and had a few crisis in a row where she had to go into the emergency room each time besides the physical pain that she was in her mat of ruak was quite low all it took was one phone call and there were girls at our doorstep with their backs packed to spent the night in the ER along with us in to make it a bit more FR for her and to boost her spirits when I try to think how I can describe in one sentence what K Lifeline has done for our family a certain story comes to mind was about 5 years ago through all those years that Ra was was unable to join a regular class she had a private motor that was sent by K Lifeline to homeschool her the motor had been away for a week and she when she returned home one of her first steps was to come visit my daughter it was a particularly rough day forba and she really wasn't feeling well the mor was excited to catch up on the week and asked her how are you doinga put on a jolly voice and answered good the more then continue to ask her how are you feeling and answer on not so good the mo put on a confused look and said but you just told me you were doing gooda looked her straight in the eye and told her doing and failing are two different things at that moment us that whether or not she feels well we still have to do well this is the Mahal lives by and in it is the way that Lifeline has enabled our family to live as I mentioned before is in the hands of the and our job is to maintain a steady course in every mive without K Lifeline I don't know how we could have done that done done it with the help of K Lifeline we have made it till here and hasem look forward to better for that we have an endless amount of a we all know the medish about why M was chosen to be the man of Cl had happened while he was Shepherd a little goat ran away and M Chas after it when it came to a spring of water it stopped to drink and mosha caught up with it when and mosha caught up with it he said I didn't realize you were thirsty you must also be tired so he picked it up on his shoulders and carried it home the care that he showed to that little goat proved that he was fit to F to to prend hashem's flash listen carefully to what the says about mha when he saw the goat drinking thirstily he realized that it must also be tired he saw past the surface to the underlying need what did he do he picked up the tired goat and carried it on his shoulders that is leadership this very this very accurately describes Lifeline as well they look at a flam family in crisis and don't just see a sick child they see past what meets the eye the invisible needs the hidden concerns the bury tension and above all they see a very tired family and they pick that family up on their shoulders and carry it through the difficult time I said said before that it's a miracle when we pass a difficult Lifeline makes miracles happen we look forward to the time when such Miracles will no longer be needed and the of Mia take away the H when all and will be able to [Applause] [Music] than