Yoni had gone to bed a carefree little boy who liked playing baseball with his friends and collecting things like marbles baseball cards and other odds and ends. His grades were just about average and Yoni was quite satisfied with that happy to spend almost every weekday messing around with his classmates and listening occasionally to the rebbi. In short he was your average nine-year-old. Then Yoni woke up with his sore throat and his cough.

Yoni’s mother was as easygoing as her son. Always pleasant and good-tempered she merely raised her eyebrows in surprise if one of her children did something wrong and the culprit just knew to apologize and never do it again.

The only thing that bothered Mrs. Mellor was the slightest sign of illness.