People Are Amazing

There's a lot of negativity and cynicism on the internet about people. In this post I would like to write about the best side of humanity, which my wife and I experienced five weeks ago. This was in the aftermath of the car crash that took the life of my mother-in-law, Mrs. Anne Samson a"h. (The memorial lecture and musical/choiral tribute that took place in Los Angeles on September 9th can be viewed online at this link.)

My wife and I would like to express our deep gratitude to many people:
- To all the staff at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center - the hospital closest to the location of the accident, which received my parents-in-law - for their kindness, extraordinary sensitivity and professionalism;
- To the hospital chaplain who called us at 1.30am with the terrible news, for her great sensitivity and support for my wife during the small hours of the morning;
- To my wife's uncle's friend, nurse B., who came to us in the hospital at 4am and stayed for twelve hours to provide all kinds of support;
- To B. and M., who brought us a kosher breakfast at about 6am, stayed for much of the day, and continued after Shabbos to make extensive arrangements for the funeral;
- To my wife's cousins, who came to the hospital and helped out with our baby for most of the day;
- To Rabbi T. of Bikur Cholim organization, who spent the day with us at the hospital and helped in all kinds of ways;
- To my wife's friend A., who walked several miles on Shabbos to be with my wife, and, when we discovered on Motzai Shabbos that we would be flying to Israel the next day, stayed with us until 3am to help organize and pack;
- To the woman at El-Al who re-arranged the airplane so that our last-minute seats could be all together with a bassinet seat;
- To our friends and neighbors in Ramat Bet Shemesh, who provided meals, help with the kids, and all kinds of support.

I am grateful to all these people not only for the kindness and support that they showed to us during an exceedingly difficult time, but also for inspiring me about the goodness of mankind.