Letter To uncle Moishy

This was a letter written to Uncle Moishy a few years back when he came to visit Nechama in the hospital:

Having a child with a serious illness is difficult enough without the added hardship of hospital stays.

The stay at the hospital is among the most difficult in dealing with an illness. In the hospital lies the constant reminder of the illness that consumes you. Never allowing you to forget, the tests, shots and intravenous placement and tubes are all painful and constant reminders. Each day becomes worse because each day compounds on the next. Sometimes with no end in sight, it starts to eat away at you one emotion at a time. After spending one anxiety filled week in the hospital rushing between the child in the hospital and my children at home, I couldn’t imagine the thought of enduring it for a second week. It was then that we were put in touch with Rabbi Golding who arranged for Uncle Moishy to come. When Uncle Moishy came, it was ,as my daughter phrased it, like we were dreaming. In his Uncle Mosihy hat , shirt and guitar, he spent his time with us singing, laughing and joking. He transported us all to another world. It was hard to tell who was enjoying it the most.

When we requested a song which we sang at home titled “the clapping song”, Uncle Moishy corrected me saying it was the jumping song. Only in conversation later on did I realize why he chose jumping instead of clapping. My daughter had an IV on each hand preventing her from clapping.

In his usual humble and sensitive way he had brought joy to a hospitilized child in a special way.When he finished his “concert”, I had expected that he would be in a rush to leave, however Uncle Moishy spent time with me inquiring about how my wife and myself were doing. His sincerity and concern were evident and meant a lot to us both. Who would have thought that Uncle Moishy would have brought as much joy to the parents as he did the child. Then Uncle Moishy and I went floor by floor looking for another Jewish child who would benefit. It was the second wind that we need to get through another week.

Thank you Rabbi Golding and staff and especially Uncle Moishy.