My Friend Ida and I

By Chaya Andrusier, Age 11

Ida is a good friend of our family. The way we met Ida was through my father, who used to visit her husband (z”l) and put Tefillin on himevery day at the old age home. Ida was so grateful to my father for his friendship and she felt a very close connection to our family.

One day, my mother asked if I wanted to go visit her. Of course I was so excited to do so, so that week, I went and visited Ida. She opened the door and was so happy to see us and a huge smile spread across her face. “Oh, you children are so sweet!”, she exclaimed, and I thought I saw tears glistening in her eyes. She gave us a big hug and then brought out cookies, cakes, and just about anything kids like. She also got out tons of all different types of cars, toys, and dolls for us to play with. “Ida! That’s so nice of you! You really didn’t have to do all this”. “It’s my pleasure”, and from that day on, Ida called us her “adopted grandchildren” and we began visiting her regularly.

It was Monday morning, and one of the days I was supposed to visit Ida. I was about to head out the door, when my mother called, “Chaya, Ida’s not feeling well, she called to tell you that it’s not a good day to visit, I’m sorry you can’t go today.” I felt bad not being able to go because I really looked forward to our weekly visit. So instead, I stayed home home, drawing a Refuah Shelaima card and making a small cake for her. I’m sure she’s going to love it, I thought. And she did; I remember that day like it was yesterday. She had opened the door and I can see that she was in pain, but as soon as she saw us, she had the biggest smile on her face. Ida was as cheerful as ever. As much as she appreciates us, I learn so much from her, the biggest thing how she is always so B’Simcha, even living alone and sometimes in pain from her old age. We can all learn from this to work on being B’Simcha, even when the “going gets tough” – just like Ida who is happy all the time, no matter what is going on in her life!

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