I am writing this article in the recovery room of the pediatric surgery unit at LIJ Medical Center as I await a room placement. My son Shaya has just undergone minor surgery. Though baruch Hashem all went well the doctor feels that he should be kept for observation overnight.
As I watch the other children and their parents around me I am given the time and space to reflect. Every morning we say “Elokai neshamah sheNasata bi — Hashem You have placed this soul within me.” We know that Hashem chose to place each child’s neshamah in his body and prescribed for him a future together with a specific set of parents.
Yet it is not the parents alone who struggle with the test of caring for a special needs child. The child’s siblings are tested in their role as well.
A very sweet and innocent child once said to me “Rebbetzin Feiner I know why Hashem didn’t give you any other children. It’s because Shaya needs so much special care. But when he gets better Hashem will give you more children.”
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