I know all this, yet hearing it still sends ripples of thrilling wonder tingling down my back.
“And the mother,” she continues. “The mother is a baalas chesed, and a real tzanuah.”
This, too, isn’t new to me; I’d been able to see it the moment we met. Again, I am surrounded by wondrous disbelief. Is this really the family my son is marrying into? My Itzy?
After we were sure we’d seen the worst, it was proved to us that there is no end to the downhill slope; it goes forever on, leaving aching anguish and raw despair in its wake. Our son was an adult now, and there was little, if anything, we could do. The pit was indeed bottomless, and we ceased to wonder whether he’d ever get out. We ceased to wonder about him at all.
“Come, Ma,” my girls drag me into the center of the dance floor where the young ones are kicking up their heels and the older ones are sedately keeping to their pace.
Eventually our tears and efforts and tefillos – and lots of hard-earned, easily spent money – began showing reward. Our son made the first move, and we, his parents, welcomed him back with open arms. He knew where to turn, and chashuvah mentors and rebbeim helped him reconstruct that which had been crumbling for so many years.
Years of toil and sweat paved the way to return, and a flicker of light began to shine. The flicker soon turned into a flame, and from there it spread to a full-fledged fire in the heart. A fire fed by kindling of love and warmth and empathy and understanding, and most of all, the truth of the Torah.
“Ma!” our dear sweetheart of a kallah gracefully moves towards me, inviting me to join her in a dance of gratitude and joy.
The kallah’s been through her own journey, and we know that they understand each other; they were meant for each other. They both seem so whole and complete now, that they’ve found each other after all those years of searching. What nachas!
I banish all thoughts of times filled with sorrow and fear, and allow joy to caress me with its gently fluttering wings. Opening my arms wide, I blink back a tear, and then join the circle of light the kallah’sinviting me into. It’s a nice place to be; I think I’ll stick around.