{"id":2716,"date":"2017-03-07T16:36:53","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T21:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/?p=2716"},"modified":"2017-03-30T14:53:29","modified_gmt":"2017-03-30T18:53:29","slug":"the-lego-mans-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/the-lego-mans-story\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lego Man Fights Cancer with Lego Therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"http:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/pr-canc-sup-lego-bald.jpg\"
Maor Cohen offering his special brand of joy to a child dealing with cancer!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“LEGO-MAN”, MAOR COHEN, TELLS HIS STORY:<\/p>\n

Three years ago, when I came to Oranit, Ezer Mizion\u2019s Cancer Support Center, to donate some LEGO<\/strong> sets, they asked me to work with children who have cancer<\/strong> and with children whose parents have cancer<\/strong>. “Wait! Stop! That’s more than I bargained for! All I came for was a one-time donation of LEGO<\/strong> .” I felt overwhelmed. This wasn’t what I had planned on.\u00a0 But the angels at Ezer Mizion made me see how much more I could do. I was\u00a0frightened at the thought. After all, the word \u2018cancer<\/strong>\u2019 is unmentionable and I\u2019d be not only using the word but diving right in. Lego therapy<\/strong> is what they called it. Something to enable the child to be a child in spite of the raging river of terror that threatens to drown him.<\/p>\n

I was hesitant. At the time, my wife and I had been married for some time and still had no children. A friend gave me some great advice: If you want Hashem to give you children, volunteer to take care of His children.\u00a0<\/em> That clinched it. I was still hesitant, still frightened but I began with baby steps, thus launching my career as Lego Man. We have two little girls now. I can never thank my friend enough for his advice.<\/p>\n

When I\u00a0 see those suffering children, I understand their inner turmoil.\u00a0 I know what it means to be a child with a sick parent.<\/p>\n

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Hour of vacation from cancer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ever since I was 5 years old, my father, may he live and be well, has been a heart patient. For almost thirty years, he has been fighting a variety of illnesses \u2013 on chagim, Shabbat, and ordinary weekdays. I never had the security of knowing that just because I saw my father at breakfast would he be there at supper.
\nBut he did his absolute best, and even more, to see to it that I had a good childhood. Even at the peak of his illness, it was important to him to be a loving, relevant, and active father.<\/p>\n

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Maor Cohen as he ‘stoops to conquer’ the terror of cancer inhabiting a small child’s heart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My mother fought like a lioness to make sure that I, her youngest, would not feel deprived. But the hospital visits and constant, pervasive fear did their part and without question, had an effect on me. Through the years, Abba got better and then was sick again, and that cycle kept repeating itself. As a family, we learned to live with this reality.<\/p>\n

The real burden fell on my mother, who would not give up. Her concern that all of us would continue to live our lives in an emotionally healthy manner became her life mission. Thank G-d, my father continues onward. There are better days and there are worse.<\/p>\n

When I am at the LEGO club with children whose parents are dealing with cancer<\/strong>, I melt with compassion. I remember myself in their shoes \u2013 the fears, the concerns, the feeling that the most prominent figure in your life is fighting for his life\u2026and may lose the battle. It isn\u2019t easy. Each time I relate to a child whose parent died, the challenge intensifies, and with it, the commitment that as long as a child is in my LEGO club, I will make sure he gets what this club was established for \u2013 a chance to hold on to the security of normal world of childhood. Cancer<\/strong>, whether it afflicts a family member or the child himself, tears apart the fabric, the core of one’s being. His inner persona lies there- shattered –\u00a0 like a thousand fragmented puzzle pieces.\u00a0 As the child assemblies a complex LEGO creation, he rebuilds his innermost soul.<\/p>\n

A case in point was the teen who became extremely depressed when diagnosed with cancer<\/strong>. He refused to relate to anyone. Neither the medical staff nor even his close family members. I was asked to visit him. The first visit was a failure. I spent the time working with the LEGO<\/strong> myself, completely ignored by the boy I had come to help. But I continued on. I visited him every day, talking to him, playing with LEGO<\/strong>. I got no more reaction than if I had been a puff of wind. It was discouraging, to say the least. \u00a0 Then one day, he answered.\u00a0 With one word. A week later, a sentence. Soon he was helping me build. We have a beautiful relationship now. He is better able to cope with his disease psychologically. His spirit has partnered with his body in the battle for life.<\/p>\n

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Cancer fears are left behind in the world of LEGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every year, for the past three years, we hold a \u201cLEGO<\/strong> in Honey\u201d event during the Rosh Hashona- Yom Kippur season at Oranit \u2013 a LEGO<\/strong> party for children whose parent has cancer.<\/strong> About thirty families step out of their medical nightmare for the moment, sit around tables heaped with LEGO<\/strong>, and build a variegated display of creations. Three lucky winners leave with huge LEGO<\/strong> sets and everyone gets a standard family LEGO<\/strong> set as a gift. a similar event is held around Passover entitled Afi-Lego. The LEGO club has even expanded to include adults<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During the last party, I stood at the side for a moment and returned in my mind to those days when Ima and I would come home from the hospital<\/strong> after visiting Abba. I would go into my room, sit on the floor, open the LEGO<\/strong> drawer, and immerse myself in my own world, building whimsical creations and dreaming of the days when everything would be okay.<\/p>\n

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On LEGO days, I forget all about cancer! How do you like my creation?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yesterday, I knew that everything is okay. In the background, Idan Amdi\u2019s song resonated:
\n\u201cThe songs you loved so much
\nFill your mind,
\nThis is your way,
\nPaths filled with melodies
\nLead you home.
\nThis is your way,
\nEverything you never dared,
\nEverything you\u2019ve known for a long time,
\nDeep in your heart.
\nThis is your way,
\nThis is your way\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Thank you for enabling me to walk down this path each time anew, reliving my own childhood feelings, empathizing with the kids around me and giving, giving , giving enabling them to better cope with the monster named Cancer<\/strong> that has taken over their lives.
\nTogether we walk down the path of colorful LEGO<\/strong> bricks at Oranit<\/a>, bringing healing into the hearts of suffering children and families. All this happens thanks to you \u2013 you our generous friends an supporters who have become a partner with us, making these moving events possible.<\/p>\n

Therapeutic activities and events will enable to the patient and his family to better cope with the nightmare that has entered their lives. Click to donate<\/a>.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  “LEGO-MAN”, MAOR COHEN, TELLS HIS STORY: Three years ago, when I came to Oranit, Ezer Mizion\u2019s Cancer Support Center, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4,14,169,37],"class_list":["post-2716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cancer-support-division","tag-cancer","tag-hospital","tag-lego","tag-leukemia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2716"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3947,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2716\/revisions\/3947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}