With my Teenage Daughter at the Emergency Clinic
My teenage daughter had been prickly with me for a few weeks, so last week, hoping it would help us to reconnect, I asked her if we could schedule an ice-cream date. She responded with a cold, noncommittal “Maybe, we’ll see.”
And then this past Shabbat, that daughter got a deep cut on her foot and right after Shabbat I had to take her to get 5 stitches. The injections of local anesthetic were very painful. But that time together at the emergency clinic did the trick, and thawed the thick layer of ice that had developed between my daughter and me.
Afterwards, we went out together for ice cream. As she offered me a taste of her sundae, I imagined that the way I felt that moment was how Hashem feels a lot of the time. When life turns hard, we remember we need Hashem, and bring Him into our hearts. But things don’t have to be that way. Like I told my daughter as she held onto my arm and hopped her way to the light rail, “Next time, we can go out together for ice cream together without cutting your foot first!”
YES!