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me in the street later, full of emotion for what they and their families had experienced, brimming with stories of the heartwarming interaction between their children and their very special guests. In the afternoon all the children and counselors returned to the gymnasium for the rest of the day's activities. My other children, Atara, Avraham and Netanel spent the whole afternoon with them. They joined the games, snacking, enjoying the big park across the street and talking and connecting with friends. At 4 in the afternoon the whole group took a walk around the neighborhood, ending up at the local synagogue for the afternoon prayer service. The slow parade of wheelchairs and walkers with the variety of children with their variety of ailments made their way through the streets, and everyoneeveryone in the neighborhood who saw them pass, was moved by the care and the compassion of their loving counselors. Ahuva stopped the procession outside our house for refreshments from the efforts of the walk and from the heat of the summer day. The hardworking counselors immediately started singing lively, hysterical, hand-clapping, foot-stomping cheers with and for their charges. It was wild. Everyone was smiling and having a ball. And because the counselors never- even for a moment- focused on what was different about these kids, those of us watching also didn't. We just saw kids who wanted to have a good time.

The last meal of the Sabbath was back at the gymnasium. All the host families were invited to join and they did, bringing platters of vegetables, bowls of watermelon and cakes. Everyone stood around eating, talking, and feeling that they were witnessing greatness. The children were the focus of attention and they were basking in it. People gathered around them. The counselors joked with them as they fed them, cutting their food for them, wiping their mouths, doing "wheelies" with them on their wheelchairs, even sitting on their laps to get a ride. Then the counselors made a huge circle of all their charges, and all the families joined and the activities began. Three counselors started putting on an impromptu show something about a garden that wanted to grow. It didn't matter. Because these counselors, with no training in the field, no guidance by professionals, knew just what to do. They pulled two adorable children in wheelchairs into the middle, told them they were the flowers, stuck sticks of cucumbers in their mouths and told them to grow. And they did sit

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