Is there something you always carry on you, even if it’s seen better days?

Project coordinator: Rachel Bachrach

Illustrations: Menachem Weinreb

We  moved a couple of years before my youngest child was born, and with the move came a host of changes. A few of our children started new schools, our daily schedules were different, and though this wasn’t a painful situation, some of the children found the transition challenging.

When I was expecting each child, and after they were born, too, I’d stand at the candles on Friday and daven for them to have health and success and to bring us nachas. I had never thought to daven for cheerfulness, but I was a bit older when I was expecting my youngest, and having seen the difficulty some of my children had with these recent changes, I thought having a positive outlook and cheerful disposition would be a great tool for navigating life. Each Friday night, I’d say, “Hashem, please give this child a cheerful, positive personality.”

We could see what a happy child my youngest was almost immediately after he was born. I’d sit and talk to him and he’d smile back — a full gummy smile. Now that he’s in school, it’s the first thing all his rebbeim and teachers notice about him.

“He’s such a happy, positive child,” they say, using the same words I did when I asked Hashem for this very gift. It makes me emotional every time I hear it.

Three years ago, my son’s teenage counselors wrote the same thing in a note: “We love your outgoing and friendly personality.”

I keep that note in my wallet, where I see it all the time. It gives me strength and reminds me that Hashem listens to every prayer.

Esther Shaindy Leshkowitz is a teacher in Brooklyn, New York.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 860)