Positivity: A wounded soldier — a mother’s story

This is a lengthy read, which is why it’s on a weekend, and worth every word.

From Providence, RI:

His name has been on my mind since last month, when I first heard it. I was at Rosh Hashanah services at Temple Beth-El in Providence when the assistant rabbi, Sarah Mack, said something that got my attention. She offered a prayer of healing for those in the congregation who were ill, mentioning one in particular.

“We keep in our hearts and in our prayers this morning, Bernie Teich,” she said. “Bernie’s leg was amputated in recent days after being injured during valiant service to our country in Iraq.”

Last week, I called to find out more. I learned that Bernie is still in treatment in Texas. His mother, Sharon Teich, lives in Providence. She gave me directions to her home on the East Side, near Blackstone Boulevard, telling me to look for the big American flag out front.

It’s not the kind of block you picture when you think about the military, which tends toward a working-class base. It was a reminder that the war touches all neighborhoods.

Sharon Teich is 53, and her son 30. She said he began school at Providence Hebrew Day, and learned basketball at the Jewish Community Center. He didn’t love being a student, and eventually moved to School One.

In 1996, at age 19, he joined the Marines.

Bernie wasn’t good at writing home, and, early on, his mom got so worried she asked that they tell him to get in touch. At the time, he was at Parris Island. He wasn’t pleased. Sharon acknowledges it’s embarrassing for a Marine to be pulled out of boot camp and told to call his mother.

Bernie found a calling in the military and after four years reenlisted, this time in the Army. He rose to staff sergeant and was based at Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas. He married a woman who also enlisted, Jamie, a medic. During their five years at Fort Hood, they had a son and two daughters.

But they recently moved to San Antonio’s Fort Sam Houston. That’s where Bernie is being treated in the Brooke Army Medical Center, a new hospital with an advanced program for amputees.

I asked Sharon why they wouldn’t have held onto their home at Fort Hood, where they have roots.

“He’s going to be in therapy a long, long time,” she said. …..

Go here for the rest of the story.