My daughter, son-in-law and three children had reason to move to Buffalo, NY from Brooklyn this past summer. As we watched our grandchildren’s cute little faces peeled and waving through the back window, we knew we were in for a huge adjustment. We knew we would obviously miss them but we also were aware that we gave our children wings to do as they saw necessary (and they saw it necessary to drive seven hours away to their new home).
We attempt to see them once every eight weeks or so, as this somewhat fills our need. Our grandchildren are very young, and we enjoy seeing them grow (the youngest was born two weeks before they moved). We feel it’s essential – for us – to give them hugs and kisses, as only grandparents can do.
Fortunately, they came for Sukkos, and then it was our turn to travel there in November. Lucky for us, the weather held out there as well as here.
We arrived at the airport and went through the bag checking on the long lines. Next stops: taking our shoes off, being x-rayed, putting the shoes back on, and then off to find our terminal to sit and wait for the plane. But that was delayed.
I finally sat down to do my airport thing (It’s also my daily thing). I sit in the airport and say Tehillim every time I fly, as this gives me some sense of comfort and peace. I finished my praying, put away the Tehillim in the carry-on, and sat down to drink some coffee.
We boarded the plane. My husband likes to be first on the plane when his row number is called. Maybe he thinks he will arrive there sooner. The plane was totally full, making overhead bins very cluttered and hard to retrieve something, especially when your bag goes in first and gets stuffed in the back. I looked at my husband after placing the bag in the bin, along with everyone else around us, and realized I packed away the Tefillas Haderech (our next order of comfort). My husband knew the difficulty in locating our bag. And people don’t like it when you manipulate their belongings. Before I asked him to bother looking for our bag, I looked around for a frum person to save us the trouble. Even though the plane was full, it appeared that no Orthodox Jews had reason to be in Buffalo that day.
As I looked again, lo and behold, down the aisle were two frum people moseying toward us. They sat right behind us, so there was no need to stand up and seek them out. I quickly inquired whether they had a Tefillas Haderech and if so, whether I could borrow it when they were done. No sooner said than done, I had a Tefillas Haderech in my hands without much ado to my husband.
I sat there grinning, as I know Hashem always looks out for us – as a father does for his child. I’m always so grateful when I see Hashem’s hand, almost on a daily basis. All you have to do is be spiritually aware. It doesn’t seem like much, but in the big picture, it’s about trusting and believing in Hashem – like you would your father.
And He won’t let you down.
