Assisted Living

One of the many benefits of living in a small community like ours, is how everyone watches out for each other.
For example, this past Sunday, Erev chag, my wife woke up with an incapacitating headache which we later found out was caused by a bad sinus infection. While on a normal day, her being out of commission would be bad, on Erev chag, with her entire family over by us for 2 weeks, putting me in charge of parenting and cooking and cleaning for chag is 4 horsemen of the apacolypse level bad. To start with cooking is more my wife's realm of the kitchen, I generally just handle the eating. Plus, I find that normal humans are capable of either parenting or cleaning, but trying to mix the 2 is like saying "I like mentos, I like diet coke, I think I'll relax on the couch with a mentos-diet coke cocktail." All you end up with is a frustrating mess. My wife, being part Superwoman and part Jedi, is able to balance cooking, cleaning and childcare all at once. So even when she is feeling under the weather and needs some help, it's generally with just one of those things. This is how I knew she was really sick, when she actually thought that I could somehow actually fill in for her rather than the usual additional assistance that I provide.
This is one of those moments that separates the men from the boys, will I seize the moment, or crack under the pressure? Failure wasn't an option, So I did what any man would do, I panicked and let his friends and neighbors bail him out. Curly Sue went to a neighbor for the morning, another friend sent over a potato kugel so I wouldn't need to actually try to make a non-meat dish. Mini-Me took Princess and Little Red out to the front yard and somehow kept them out of the house long enough for me to put up chicken soup and corned beef and clean the kitchen. I am not sure how MiniMe kept them busy, although I know he didn't tie them to the tree, I can see it from the kitchen window. Thanks to friends and a very resourceful 8 year old, chag would go on in the Evillsettler home.
However that is not the end of neighborly help that we received that day. Later in the day, our neighbor, the nurse, took time out of her day to stop and and check on my wife. After seeing how she was doing, as chag was starting, she had our local doctor confirm that she was suffering from a sinus infection, who then prescribed an antibiotic that one of our neighbors had in their house, so she could start on it right away. Both the doctor and nurse came back the next day to check on her.
The most amazing part of the story is the fact that this story is not unique. That's the kind of place I live in. If you need help, your neighbor will be there lending a hand. If you're running late, of course your kids can come over until you get home. Doing yard work? Not only will your neighbor gladly lend you his yard tools, but he will be happy to lend a hand digging as well. I could go on and on, but the point is that I am blessed to be living in a place where helping each other is a way of life, not just through the many gmachim and organizations, but through every day actions and neighborly interactions. While I understand small settlement life is not for everyone, it's times like these that I feel a little bad for those who say it's not for them, they'll never be able to appreciate what they're missing. Thank you to my neighbors for helping me appreciate it.