Heartstrings

The birth was routine. The baby was beautiful. The parents were elated. Then the pediatrician said he had something to tell them. Heartstrings is the poignant, powerful, and ultimately up- lifting story of Simcha, the baby who was born with a hole in his heart. By the laws of statistics he should not have survived his first few weeks. Instead, through the miracle of modern medicine and the tremendous benevolence of Hashem, he lived a whole year. Little Simcha lived to see the full cycle of the Jewish calendar. And he lived to immeasurably enrich the lives of his family and of all those who came into contact with him during those twelve short months. The story of Simcha is like the brief but brilliant flare of a brightly burning candle that illuminates everything around it. Above all, it is a tale of Divine Providence in its many guises. Through his mother's eyes, we meet the doctors, nurses, neigh- bors, and casual acquaintances who had their parts to play in..