Please share this post that I’m writing anonymously out of shame.
I’m ashamed of myself as a father, ashamed to be labeled a father who only cares about his cell phone and not his own daughter. But beyond the shame is fear which forces me to share this with you. The fear that this can happen to anyone…it happened to me, it can happen to you.
This Passover on a very hot noontime I forgot my little daughter in the car; her name is Tzippi and she’s only a year and a half old. To my great fortune she did not become another statistic and you didn’t read about her death in the papers because miraculously, she survived. Not because I remembered, not because of alert passerby, not because of a window being open to cool off the oven we call a car but only because I left the car for only 7 minutes and not 7 hours.
I came back to the car and found her shaken up, crying, soaking from sweat and I was shocked. How did I forget her? How did this happen to me?
It happened to me and believe me it can happen to you!
I picked her up and hugged her tightly trying to force the thoughts of ‘what if’ from creeping into my mind. I would have never forgiven myself if something would have happened to my Tzippi because of me!
The little I can do now is to write this post and to pray to G-d to forgive me and grant me the common sense to remember. To remember and never to forget; because it’s my responsibility not to forget. G-d deposited this treasure, this gift, this child with me and I can never forget.
We finished the Passover holiday and summer is at our doorstep and we all want to get back to routine. But parents, I beg of you and warn you from the depths of my heart, never forget your child in a car! Every time you leave your car look back and scan it with your eyes; maybe YOUR Tzippi is laying there sleeping!