On Monday afternoon a can of hot cosmetic wax exploded in Avivah’s face. She was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital and is in their burn unit. She suffered 2nd degree burns on her whole face and neck.
The doctors said she is very fortunate that her glasses shielded her eyes or she would likely have been blinded. Her eyesight was not affected. The doctors are optimistic for a good recovery. At this point they told us she would be in the hospital for a week, but they will reassess in the coming days.
Avivah and our family would appreciate your prayers.
A couple of months ago, dd19 mentioned a song that she really liked the message of. I asked her to send me a link so I could listen to it.
It turns out I had heard it before but since I didn’t pay attention to the lyrics, I didn’t think much of it. This time I looked up the lyrics and listened carefully and wow! – it was very powerful. It was a message that I really needed to hear right then, a few days after having been hit by a car and feeling powerless and victimized.
So here’s the song – Brave, a remake by the Maccabeats of the original by Sara Bareilles. (Dd wanted to make sure I realized this isn’t a Jewish song, though it’s sung by an Orthodox mens’ acapella group and I’m passing this info along to you.)
And here are the lyrics:
“Brave” – by Sara Bareilles
“You can be amazing You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug You can be the outcast Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love Or you can start speaking up Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do When they settle ‘neath your skin Kept on the inside and no sunlight Sometimes a shadow wins But I wonder what would happen if youSay what you wanna say And let the words fall out Honestly I wanna see you be braveWith what you want to say And let the words fall out Honestly I wanna see you be braveI just wanna see you I just wanna see you I just wanna see you I wanna see you be braveI just wanna see you I just wanna see you I just wanna see you I wanna see you be braveEverybody’s been there, Everybody’s been stared down by the enemy Fallen for the fear And done some disappearing, Bow down to the mighty Don’t run, just stop holding your tongue Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live Maybe one of these days you can let the light in Show me how big your brave is
Say what you wanna say And let the words fall out Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say And let the words fall out Honestly I wanna see you be brave
And since your history of silence Won’t do you any good, Did you think it would? Let your words be anything but empty Why don’t you tell them the truth?
Say what you wanna say And let the words fall out Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say And let the words fall out Honestly I wanna see you be brave.”
I have a couple of favorite phrases in this song but the entire message to me is something lots of us need to hear – have the courage to say how you really feel. Don’t keep everything in because you’re afraid of what people will think of you, or because you’re afraid they won’t hear you. It takes courage to find our inner strength when we’re not feeling strong. It takes courage to to take off the mask that we put on because we think that’s what others want to see, be vulnerable and to say how you’re really feeling.
