As told to Chaya Rosen

I  leaned forward in my seat as though that would make the car drive faster. Of course, it didn’t work. “Are we almost there?” I asked, fiddling with my seat belt.

“Almost there,” Mommy said, as she threw me a smile. “You’re so excited, Yossi!”

“Yeah!” I said. “I can’t believe you finally agreed to go on a hike.”

Mommy grinned. Her idea of a family Chol Hamoed trip was a picnic, or an aquarium, or a museum — stuff like that. This time, she’d capitulated, and we were going on a real trip!

When we reached our destination, Tatty parked the car and we all spilled out. Sun hats, sunscreen, water bottles — I jumped from foot to foot as Mommy slathered me with lotion and made sure everyone was wearing their hats. I felt almost like a dog on a leash, straining to be let loose. “Let’s go already!”

At last we headed toward the trail. The sun shone brilliantly, and I filled my lungs with air as I ran ahead. It’s a good thing I didn’t know, then, what the next few hours would bring.

I’m a little hyperactive and I take a medication called Concerta to help me focus at school. But even though I’d never really hiked before, I definitely didn’t need medication to help me hike! It was exhilarating to pull myself up the steep, slippery rocks by grabbing onto trees and thick roots. I was quicker than the rest of my family, so I kept rushing ahead and then coming back to tell them about the next interesting thing on the trail.

They were going far too slowly for my liking. Looking for ways to entertain myself, I clambered up the steep sides of the trail and called down to my family. I was high up and I loved it, even though some of the other hikers called for me to come down. I did... but I kept going back up. Feeling the wind blowing my hair, holding onto my yarmulke and beaming down at all the hikers below filled me with a joy I can’t even explain. But after a while I was ready to move on.

“Hey, Gavriel, let’s go ahead,” I suggested to my older brother. “They’re taking too long!”

“Ma?” Gavriel looked at Mommy. “Sure,” she said, telling Gavriel to keep an eye on me. I guess my ADHD sometimes makes it a bit of a challenge to take care of me, but what can I do? I really do try my best. But Mommy didn’t know that it wouldn’t be my ADHD that would cause all the trouble this time.

Gavriel and I set off quickly, eager to continue the trail. It was a loop-around trail, so we had to complete a whole circle before arriving back at the parked car. I sang as we hiked, enjoying every second. Gavriel kept pace with me and seemed to be enjoying himself, too.

My breathing started getting a little tighter as I sang and hiked my way along. I wasn’t alarmed. I’ve had asthma since I was a baby.

(Excerpted from Mishpacha Jr., Issue 777)