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The Jewish Home | JULY 21, 2022
Parenting Pearls
Seeing the Best in Others By Sara Rayvych, MSEd
T
his week, I am doing a slightly different type of article. We are just beginning the Three Weeks, and this is a difficult time period for our nation. The irony has often been noted that we have a time of mourning and seriousness during the summer, which is generally a time of fun and excitement. It only seemed appropriate to take a slightly different turn in this week’s article. It is important to point out that my sister and parents approved this article before going to print. It would be irresponsible for me to print anything personal without prior permission.
February 2022 This past February was my second time ever going to Florida; the first was when I was just a teenager. While for some this is a tri-annual event, I am not much of a traveler and was going just to visit my parents. With two little ones next to me, I prepared to board a plane for the first time in more than a decade. I was unsure what to expect. I knew there was priority boarding for those traveling
with children, but I didn’t know when that would be. I asked the staff and davened for divine assistance. I saw a married couple stand up, looking prepared to board. They looked like they knew what they were doing, so I asked them about boarding with children. The wife told me that she couldn’t help me because they were boarding with an earlier group comprised of the elderly and medically sensitive individuals. Realizing how healthy and strong they both looked, she felt the need to confide that her husband had just had major back or spinal surgery. Despite his robust posture, he was early in his recovery and not feeling comfortable. Clearly, she was concerned that others would mistakenly think they were faking a medical diagnosis in order to receive priority boarding. I reassured her that I didn’t think she was lying, and I shared with her the story of my previous trip to Florida, over two decades prior.
Early-Mid-1990s I don’t remember why but my par-
ents decided to take us to Florida, and we couldn’t be more excited. This was our one chance to see the famous state, and we were really looking forward to it. Armed with a Polaroid camera, my mother took a picture of us each day to have a current picture of us in that day’s clothing. We slathered on sunscreen and grabbed water bottles. Along with these routine safety precautions, my parents had a greater health concern to address. My sister was a more medically sensitive child and had recently been in the hospital. She, too, was really looking forward to this big trip and didn’t want to miss out. It was important to my parents that we enjoyed this special trip while also ensuring my sister’s safety. Upon the recommendation of the amusement park staff, my parents borrowed one of the park’s wheelchairs for her. The wheelchair was important for a number of reasons. The obvious benefit was that it provided my sister with a means to visit the entire park without exhausting herself. While she was physically capable of walking, she could easily risk overdoing herself walking throughout
the park, waiting on lines, and exerting herself in the heat. There was another less obvious reason for the wheelchair. The staff of the parks were trained to treat wheelchaired occupants with certain extra sensitivity. For example, rather than wait 45 minutes to an hour outside on the line being baked by the sun, wheelchair occupants were able to sit in the air-conditioned inner area at the front of the line. Even if they had to wait the entire waiting period for the rest of their party to arrive, the individual in the wheelchair (plus a parent) was able to sit in comfort as the rest of their family burned under the sun. Remaining in a climate-controlled area was crucial to my sister’s safety. The basic act of renting the amusement park’s wheelchair made sure my sister was comfortable and safe, rather than overheated and dehydrated, chas v’shalom. Even if she could walk, it didn’t mean it was safe for her to do so for that length of time. It was a simple yet incredibly effective method. Since most of you don’t know my sister, you wouldn’t know what an in-
