The Impact of As Long as I Live 2

New. New A steady stream of cars pulled up one after the other at the entrance to the yeshivah building And in each car, a bachur's father or mother-or both-waited until a smiling bachur approached and received a nicely wrapped packageMeir's eyes were drawn to the open gate like a magnet Another package from home Another sumptuous cheesecake Suddenly he saw it A silver Mitsubishi Lancer Abba's carHe flew breathlessly down the stairs and raced toward the car-but then he saw that a different bachur had preceded him A bachur he didn't even know by name The bachur leaned through the open window and smiled at the driver, a man with a long black beard who looked nothing like Abba A minute later, he sauntered inside holding a beautifully decorated cheese logMeir turned on his heel and trudged back to his room, still trying to catch his breath How had he been taken by such a foolish fantasy? For six months already, Abba's been in a place where he can't drive or buy cheesecake It's been six months since Meir had become an orphanThe beis midrash, he knew, was now packed with bachurim with glowing faces They'd all received dairy delicacies in honor of Shavuos They all had someone at home who'd thought of them-who had either baked or purchased a cheesecake especially for them, and then taken the trouble to deliver it to yeshivah Someone cared about them And him?He was an orphanThe fifteen protagonists in this book are fifteen incredible people who internalized that no matter the situation HaKadosh Baruch Hu places us in, we are obligated to bow our heads and accept it: This is the situation The Borei Olam has placed me here These are the waves of my personal seaThen we can pick up our heads and look around for what it is we can doProactive thinking, taking personal responsibility, the awareness that one always has free will-help one make decisions with his mind rather than his emotions They remind him that every lemon can be made into lemonade, all change can be a springboard for growth and renewal Most of all, they help one remain levelheaded enough to do whatever he can within the parameters of his current circumstances