Das rädele wurd sich schon drehen

This saying was expressed very often during my father’s lifetime.

He was the kind of Holocaust survivor who absolutely refused to hang on to depressive thoughts. He pushed them away and did not allow them to invade his mind.

Even though he recounted his sorrowful recollections to us, he kept them short and would stop abruptly when he felt they were beginning to affect his positive state of mind.

“Das Rädele wurd sich schon drehen,” he would say.

The little wheel will turn again.

This week, while moving back and forth between Shiva visits and S’machot, I found myself thinking about my father and the way he chose to look at life.

Sunday, we attended a glorious wedding in Laguna Beach, overlooking a twinkling ocean. From my seat during the Chuppah ceremony, I watched the waves come toward the shore and slowly recede again.

Back and forth.

It seemed almost symbolic of what life is all about.

The sun slowly set splendidly before our eyes, and for a few precious moments we were engulfed in complete bliss.

In front of me sat my dear friend whose son is battling sickness, and I had just returned from the Shiva of another dear friend who was mourning her father.

Look at this beautiful young couple and breathe in their happiness, I silently told myself.

I prayed for their future and tried not to allow sad thoughts to distract me from the Simcha unfolding before my eyes.

And then I received a picture on my phone of yet another friend holding her father’s hand as he took his last breaths in this world.

The wheel kept turning.

Shiva.

Wedding.

Shiva.

Sheva Brachot.

Shiva.

I will make dinner for the Shiva. I will celebrate with the Chatan and Kallah. I will support my friends during happy times and sad ones.

But never was it more obvious to me than during these last few days how closely joy and sorrow live beside one another.

Perhaps my father understood this better than most.

He had experienced enough sorrow for many lifetimes, yet he refused to allow sorrow to have the final word.

“Das Rädele wurd sich schon drehen.”
The wheel will turn again.

And we have to believe that with its next turn will come Mazal, Simcha, good health, and better days.