Ready to Serve

December 18, 2025

Synchronicities are a part of life; however, when they occur it can be a complete surprise leaving one to wonder about the meaning of the two events linked by such happenings. Since nothing really happens by accident, the next step is to contemplate the deeper meaning.

Several weeks ago, while staying overnight at a hotel, I decided to go to the Club Room on the 2nd floor for tea. There I saw a woman with very bushy mid length blonde hair, knee-high boots and a short car coat in front of me at the machine. I made a silly comment to get her attention since we were the only two people in the room and I desired some conversation, even momentarily. When she turned around and began to speak, I realized that she was not from the US, based on her demeanor and her quick willingness to tell me that she was in fact from Argentina. I feel a tie to people from Argentina as I travel there yearly to dance tango.

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Her response opened the door to a brief conversation wherein she told me that her profession was in real estate, that she had family in DC and was preparing to fly to NY the next morning very early.  She added that she needed a smaller suitcase for the quick three-day visit (rather than take her larger suitcase with her) as well as needing a warmer coat due to the cold spell along the East Coast. She planned to head out to find both these items shortly. Her name was Susan. I opted to leave it alone and said goodbye leaving for my own room rather than put myself “out there” by offering to help her find the items that she mentioned.

Upon my return to the room, while arranging my things for later that evening, this crazy feeling came over me that I was supposed to help the Argentine lady. But I had missed the opportunity or so I thought. Looking at my watch, I realized that I had a two-hour window before going to my event that evening leaving plenty of open time to go out for a short walk.

When I went downstairs 30 minutes had passed since my visit to the Hospitality room and my meeting Susan. I was shocked to see her at the front desk speaking in Spanish with the desk clerk about where to go to get the desired items. From among the words that I didn’t understand, “Nordstrom Rack” was very clear. I thought how convenient it would be to have a store that has a variety of things and most likely a great store for what she wanted. Since I was planning to take a walk and it didn’t matter where I walked, I went out with her.

Knowing each other for 15 minutes didn’t matter either. We were instant friends and went out together to find the store as dusk approached. I felt like her personal shopper helping her find each article that she wanted with the same expertise that I use for my own shopping adventures. And she was overjoyed with the help.  What color?  How do you want it to fit? She was used to metric and not our system, so sizes and inches didn’t make sense to her. The same was true for the suitcase. I quickly found items and showed them to her, and she tried on the coat that said yea or nay but found one she liked for a reasonable amount. Then the suitcase which she wanted for carryon. What color? How big? I knew the brands and what was good. She was grateful and, in turn, I felt good. Then I had to return to the hotel, while she wanted to stay to shop more for her kids and grandkids.

She wanted to do something for me – like a tea or a meal. But I said, not to worry, and went back to the hotel. Upon leaving for my event later that evening, I asked the front desk clerk if she had gotten back ok and he said yes. I was happy knowing that she returned safely.

I went on to my event feeling like my mission was accomplished. I was called to serve, and I had been of service.

As always, comments are welcome.

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Nature Finds a Way

August 3, 2025

For over 27 years I’ve watched my beautiful Japanese cut leaf maple tree develop its curved umbrella form in the backyard of my townhouse. Periodically, I would sit in my outside porch chair and just look at it as well as the surrounding trees from the neighboring Reston Association open wooded area just over my backyard fence. Sometimes I would even tell my tree how much I liked it. Unfortunately, a storm a few weeks ago took a few trees down from this wooded area, with one of them coming down right on my beautiful tree. In hitting my tree, the falling one essentially sliced my Japanese maple in half, severing one of the major branches and leaving a long “wound” down the side. To say that I was upset would be an understatement. What happened next is the subject of this article.

I was initially happy that the fallen trees didn’t hit my home. These same trees did hit the property of the neighbors to my left, just into their backyards, but only damaging their fences and not their homes perse. This was fortunate. The Reston Association was notified immediately; however, there were many trees down due to the storm, so it took several days for their support team to come out to cut the fallen trees into pieces to be removed and just let decay in their park area.

When I asked about their responsibility for what had happened to my tree I got the standard, “it was an act of God” and that they would essentially do nothing. As a tree maintenance company was already out one day talking to one of my neighbors, the kind man offered to make a clean slice where my tree had been “wounded”. At least that would give the tree some relief. To help, I put down some Epsom salt fertilizer hoping that added nutrients might help the tree to heal.

Each day I go outside and talk to my tree encouraging it to not give up and die since the leaves seem to be curling up as if they were dying. Then after a few weeks I began to see tiny new red sprouts of leaves that are very cute that are coming out from the bark, branches and everywhere on the tree. So, what looks like a dying tree that perhaps had a tree’s version of a heart attack, seems to be slowly recovering. It’s interesting to watch. There is no way to know if my words are helping it, but I keep trying. I hold on to a branch and tell it that I care about it and to “Live”. We have had very hot weather which has not helped the situation with the tree. Then there was a period of rain. Maybe that was good.

Nature has a will to survive, so perhaps my tree will make it. I really hope so. For now, my tree looks more like a tea cup with half of it present rather than the full umbrella that it once was. But the holographic form that used to be there is slowly coming back. Somehow the tree knows what it used to look like, something like a limb growing back after an amputation (if this were possible). I wonder what my tree will look like in a year. Will it regain its full umbrella? I hope so.

As always, comments are welcome.

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Navigating Toxic Friendships: When to Let Go

June 17, 2025

There are ups and downs with friends as with every other type of relationship. However, when things become too one-sided or even abusive, it may be time to let go. In other words, it’s time to just give up being friends with this person. This happened to me recently with a 7-year friendship that I’ve come to realize is just draining me and is causing stress in my life. As I’ve aged, I have realized that if those around me are not adding to my life, then they are detracting from it. Something must change or be changed. Here is my generalized story of a derailed friendship.

Many families have dramas. In fact, I don’t know of any people around me that don’t have some kind of issues or drama in their lives or within their extended families. Perhaps there is a medical crisis going on, someone in the hospital, dealing with an illness or even a terminal situation. There are mood disorders such as ADHD, bipolar, autism and/ or narcissism that I’ve seen in those around me. Each of these mental handicaps have their own spectrum of debilitation and or frustrations for those near, whether family or friends.

In my own life, I’ve dealt with boyfriends that have suffered from many of these mental unstable emotional issues filling my life with turmoil. I once asked a psychic why I had so many such men in my life to which I was told, “because you have a karmic obligation to be patient and to help them navigate their lives while with you”. Every day, week, month or year that I spent with people of this unbalanced nature caused me to wonder if my world was upside down since their thinking was so out of kilter. I had to learn to stay balanced during chaos.

And so it went. I met L. (short for the guy in question) about seven years ago when he came to my town to visit his family. We met at a ballroom dance and eventually dated while he was local. Even after he left, we have kept in touch with sporadic calls and text messages. His normal conversations are more like rants about his family drama even though over the years I’d had much of my own, having gone through a brother’s death, his children trying to take over care of my mother from me and then having to care for her over a 2 year period until her death.

During my own turmoil, I was present for my friend L. He was always fixated on his situation and although appeared to be listening, he was most probably multitasking on his computer. With his extreme ADHD he is constantly doing multiple things as his mind races. He only eats when his body forces him to and tends to sleep any time of the day when he just can’t stay awake any longer. When we’ve been together, he has led a more normal life since I eat and sleep normally – he has managed to do so. Apparently, my energy has been a calming influence on him. I felt that I was helping him in this way.

My description of L has been the case until more recently when I decided to make a visit to his home, which is in our northern neighbor, Canada. From where I live, it’s just a quick 2-hour flight. I stopped in to see him last October during a visit to his area allowing some time for my own activities and he was very receptive, keeping in mind that I paid for all that we did together. He didn’t even offer me tea during our afternoon breaks. I recognized that his finances were stretched, but staying in my room, there was a nice sofa in the living area, sharing my breakfast and then going out to dinner with me, it would have been a nice gesture to pay for a simple tea. Although I enjoyed his company while there, mostly because he was calmer than when we conversed on the phone and was willing to hang out doing what I wanted to do. That’s nice, but in the end, paying for a man for everything does get old.

This time, I decided to visit for a full week and go from one city to another one a few hours away by train. He agreed to go with me even though he’d been before. I guess he figured that I’d pay for everything. When I asked him if he could cover his train fare, he said, “maybe”. I’m not sure what kind of answer that is. Either one has $135 or nor. I don’t understand “maybe”. I needed to book my trip and eventually made the arrangement to fly into his city so that he could accompany me to the second one. In hindsight, this was a mistake as it’s possible to just fly there and then take the train one way back. I didn’t want to pay for two people to go back and forth when I could have done it much simpler in the first place.

Then I also booked the trip for when he was available – mid – July, a much busier tourist season, rather than the end of June, which was preferable for me. I don’t mind cooler weather when it’s not as crowded. In accommodating him, I’m going during warmer, and possibly wetter weather, in tourist time and when I’m missing something that might have been possible. One can look towards other’s welfare more than their own. Now I’m very sorry that I did this, since his attitude of late has made me realize that he really doesn’t want to go since he doesn’t want to spend money period. Being with me is ok, as long as I’m the bank. I’ve decided that this doesn’t work for me. Unfortunately, I figured the whole thing out late.

In the end, I wrote to him that it just seems like it’s a bad time to come to visit him and that our plans together are cancelled. That said, my plans are not cancelled. If it was easier to change my air I would do so, but there are other expenses already incurred that make this adjustment impossible now. Oh well. I will go and do the trip as I wish. Letting go has released me from a great deal of stress. Of course, he had some redeeming qualities that I will miss, but not enough to continue. Discernment is necessary in selecting friends – who to spend time with and who to allow to use your time.

I’ve learned a big lesson. I will not allow myself to give into the whims of others nor for me to be used again. I also realize now that the planetary alignment is happening this coming weekend. It’s a time to let go of what’s not aligned with one’s mission and /or higher calling. Letting go of L. is part of my need to let go since it’s not in alignment with my mission. What are you considering it’s time to let go of?

Comments are always welcome.

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Joy from Challenge

April 13, 2025

We often hear about making lemonade from lemons but sometimes we don’t know what will come from our challenges. Here’s an inspiring story of one person’s heartbreaking issue that had a happy ending.

You see there is a very nice guy named Emmanuel that plays tango music with his bandoneon. He’s a wonderful player, but in coming to this country as an immigrant, he didn’t have medical insurance. About two years ago he was diagnosed with cancer and had huge medical bills. There was a “Go Fund Me” effort arranged for him, in which I participated to help him financially, and with much love he went through many months of chemotherapy. He wrote very poetic messages on Facebook of how he was doing, almost like lyrics of tango music.

I followed his treatment along with the photos that he posted, sometimes in his hospital gown, but always with a positive attitude. As time went on those in the tango community wondered whether Emmanuel would beat the big C? Would he live through his illness? And then we started to see him playing his beloved instrument again here and there. Just a short performance at first with him looking so frail. And then more and more. Until the other night, I saw him smiling with a young lady nearby.

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The story has a very happy ending. Emmanual told me that he got married. The surprise is that he married his oncology nurse! Wow, I stood there in amazement. The joy that he got from having Cancer that he would have never know if he’d never gotten sick. What a mixed blessing! He was beaming as he told me. I’m so happy for him.

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God Willing

August 27, 2024

When we are uncertain about how things will go, and we happen to be on the spiritual side, one might say, “God willing”. Therefore, this is a common expression and can be heard in many languages. I happen to be familiar with the Hebrew and the Arabic versions for example, indicating that the expression is part of not only the language but the associated religions which represents a good part of the world. I have an interesting story where I found a use to teach this expression to a tango instructor who was concerned about his monetary intake for the evening. Here is how it all went. I hope that you enjoy it.

There is a tango instructor that I like very much, and he hold dances at a local dance venue called Glen Echo Spanish ballroom. This location is quite beautiful, being of the Art Deco era, however it is not fully air conditioned. During this summer, what little A/C is installed wasn’t working making it very uncomfortable to dance. As a result, after various types of makeshift large hoses to pump air into the back room used for the tango dances, this instructor decided to move the August Sunday night events to another location.

I don’t attend every week, but I do enjoy the evenings with live music as a duo plays tango music that is wonderful for dancing. On this night, I went to the alternative location which was off the highway in what seemed like a wooded area. As I walked up to the doorway, which was lined with trees, I noticed that the signs were of both a church and a synagogue. For those not familiar, it is common for a church, which holds services on Sundays and a synagogue which holds services on Friday night and Saturday to share parking space and sometimes the actual building. I always find this interesting; firstly, that these two different religions can find each other at the time of construction and that the style of the building would suite both liturgies. In this case, no one else but me noticed that it was called both the Universalist Unitarian Church as well as the Beit Chai Congregation.

Rene, the instructor was concerned that the fees for dancing would not cover his expenses since this type of location, which did have a beautiful wood floor, was more expensive than the public facility that he normally used. I told him that I hoped that it would all work out and gave him back the $5 change from the $20 bill that I had handed him. It was fine. I was happy to just be there and dance. Most places do charge $20 anyway. There were other people that helped as well.

I enjoyed my dancing and, on the way, out, I said, “God Willing”, you will break even. Then I decided to teach him how to say this in Hebrew – “Baruch Hashem”. I walked back and said, “I’m going to teach you some powerful words that I believe will help you”. After all, it can’t hurt. He gratefully repeated the words.

The next day I got an excited text from Rene, “It worked!! I broke even”. Well, maybe he would have anyway, but it’s nice to thank God in any case.

As always, comments are welcome.

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Getting out of your own way

July 12, 2024

We are built with an ego that forms our individualized self that is by definition, concerned for what we want that makes us feel good at the moment. In other words, this is the animal soul. The other part of the soul is concerned for others, for God and for what’s right in the altruistic sense. This is called the Godly soul. These two sides of our nature are at odds within us on a daily basis. Sometimes the animal soul wins and sometimes the Godly soul takes over. Today, I’m going to explain how we can get out of our own way and move towards the Godly soul.

There are challenges known as everyday occurrences that happen all the time. Today, for instance, kids were playing in the middle of the street near my home. I live in a relatively small townhouse community that has one curved road that circles around to get in and out of the development. There is no other access. If kids are playing in the street, a driver must stop and wait until they move. Under these circumstances, if either the driver or the kids aren’t watching, disaster can occur. There is a corner that one must drive around and then – bam – there are kids with a ball, or running, or playing on a little scooter.

When I was growing up, a mother would never let her child play in the street. I can hear my mother now, “never play in the street!”. But times are different, and parents think that once they move into a neighborhood it belongs to them and they can do what they want. It’s like in a restaurant. Everyone else must listen to their kid screaming because they want to go out to eat with their young child. In my day, that’s what babysitters were for. I guess I’m from a by-gone age. Maybe so, but courtesy and safety are still important.  

After pulling into my driveway, I went back and really tried to be polite to my neighbor who was playing with his child. I begged him to not do this in the middle of the street where cars are driving. “Please go over to the next block where the play ground is or down the end where it is safer.” I also told him that I had checked the local code and it was against the law. I was trying to be nice and not go down that road by asking first. He was more or less tolerant of my speaking and then got rather hostile stating he planned to continue….. that said, when I looked again, he and his wife (perhaps she understood the message better) were moving to safer ground down the end of the culdesac. Unfortunately, my other neighbors were playing with their kids in the street. I saw the first guy tell them. We’ll see what happens. I tried to be polite, checked my facts and then I went home and wrote the President of the board.

How am I using my Godly soul? I communicated in a very polite manner and literally begged him. I told him of my motivation and what happened to me previously so that the message would be in context. The animal soul would have just called the police. That would have satisfied my anger quicker. I hope I’ve done the right thing because now everyone knows that it’s me. Oh well, I’ve become the old lady in the neighborhood anyway and my sense of morality is different. I must accept that. It’s a new world.

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Preparing for One’s Own Funeral

March 30, 2024

Everyone has a birth and an expiration date. Even though it’s not pleasant to think about the later date for the most part, in some cases, it’s best to plan. In my case, I don’t have family, so I want to take the guess work out of my final arrangements for the executor of my “estate”. My net worth won’t be in the category of Bill Gates, but it is still called an “estate”. Hence, I went out to take care of my funeral arrangements. This hit home to me after making similar arrangements for my mother’s final resting place last year. Doing so brought home my own mortality. I also realized how expensive an actual burial can be and will certainly be more expensive in the future. When a friend told me how he pre-planned his funeral and had also paid for it a long time ago, I decided to do the same.

If someone just wants to be cremated and their ashes thrown about, the problem is much simpler. At one point I felt this way until I studied about the Jewish perspective on the soul while investigating burials for my mother. Then I realized that I might not care, but my soul might feel differently about it. I changed my will from cremation to burial. At this point, several years ago, I hadn’t decided on the actual funeral arrangements.

Now that my mother’s funeral is in the rear-view mirror, I decided to take time out to plan my own. As there is only one Jewish cemetery near my home in Virginia, I went there a few weeks ago and picked out a plot. I was surprised that in March there was a sale. One doesn’t imagine that there would be sales on cemetery plots. I guess it’s essentially real estate that one uses in the future. During the afternoon, I had a few chuckles to myself. One of the funny moments was when the lady said, “Don’t you want to be up on the hill?” When I realized that the cost was three times what it cost to be lower down, I declined. The neighborhood looked just fine near the row of trees closer to the entrance. The people already buried there seemed to be “nice” people. Just imagine me standing there looking down at those already buried and thinking that they were fine for me to have as neighbors one day!

I told the lady helping me that I would take the spot available as I looked up and saw a beautiful cherry tree wondering if it would still be there some thirty years in the future when I felt it would be my time – God willing.

I signed the contract for the selected spot and all the extras that were required, including the headstone. That is also an interesting story. There are several grades of headstones each costing more – depending on style of lettering, borders and how much information was on there. I chose the basic one but had to have my name in both English and Hebrew. Of course, this is the Jewish section of the cemetery and having the Hebrew writing was an extra charge! This did seem very strange to me. I have the basic information of my birth date and the date of death is of course, TBD.

The contract will get paid for over 5 years. The next step was the funeral home.

I communicated with two different funeral homes and got pricing for a basic Jewish casket, ritual washing and the other basics that are required. That too was put on a five year contract.

In the end, no pun intended, the details of what I want are in place. Now the person who will handle things for me will know what to do and it will be mostly paid for. I say mostly because there are always last minutes charges. I expect to be living in the same area but could move. This organization does allow for that and will facilitate monies going to other services elsewhere. I’ve done the best job I can with really not knowing how it will go in the future. One cannot project manage everything.

But almost everything. I certainly do feel my mortality more than before. And I turned another year older in the process.

As always, comments are welcome.

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Making Lemonade from Lemons

December 18, 2023

There is an adage about making lemonade from lemons. This is a great idea until it’s you that has the challenge in your path. Perhaps it’s an illness, the loss of a loved one, or a physical injury – for example. It could also be smaller occurrences such as not getting the raise that you expected, someone treating you in an unkind manner, or just missing a connection on a trip. It can be anything – when it happens to YOU, it’s different. It feels different and it really hits home because it is home. It’s YOU. This is normal. But how you react to these situations, both big and small, is what makes the difference in your life. In this article, I’m going to discuss these curveballs that life throws at us and how we may or may not react to them.

In my almost ¾ of a century on earth, I’m finding that making lemonade out of lemons is not so easy when it’s YOU that the lemons are happening to. When it’s my mother that has gotten sick and I must run around the country to take care of her. And then when it’s my mother that dies, it’s very difficult. I hear many people in my generation who have lost a parent, but not until it happened to ME, and I lost my MOTHER, did I really understand what it felt like. In addition, I didn’t understand how much I had to do to settle her accounts, etc. after she died. So, when other people told me about it, I just nodded my head. NOW I get it and will have more emotional intelligence and will provide more empathy to others when I hear this.

Other people get sick. Some get better and some don’t. They live with illness and others die. Some continue to go out dancing with this issue or that. When I hear about it, I say how sorry I am and then continue dancing. It isn’t me that has the problem. I feel bad that it’s happening to them, but there isn’t anything that I can do about their having this problem. Now, occasionally, I get stepped on, my toe might be bruised, or I might get a tendon torn in my foot. Over the many years that I’ve been a dancer (ballroom and tango), I’ve had several injuries. I’ve not fussed about it; neither have I asked for help. I went to the doctor and dealt with the consequences. Sometimes, I’ve had to have procedures that required me to stay  in the house for days at a time and I didn’t ask people to come over. Perhaps I was to stoic. Others don’t know that I’d like to have company and that I really don’t want to be alone so much. That said, I don’t like to bother people since I feel that others have their own stuff that they have to deal with. I’m not dying so I can carry on. I suppose if I really had to have a ride somewhere after a procedure, I’d try to get help, but I don’t ask – or haven’t as of yet.

So now I find out that after over dancing for a few months – having a good time – I finally got an MRI and it turns out that I have little tears in both hips. In addition, there is tendonitis down the back of both legs. Wow, I really did it to myself. I had pain and just told the doctor to give me the shots and she did. Now I have to pay the price. I stopped dancing except for once a week. I miss it and don’t have much to do in the house except watch GAIA videos about esoteric things. I enjoy the videos and I’m learning a lot of stuff. I have lots of fun facts to throw out at the table when I am around other people. My friends seldom have time to watch TV so they enjoy my tidbits.

So how can I turn this physical issue into lemonade? What could there possibly be that’s good about it? For one thing, it’s slowing me down. I have time to think about my mom’s passing in a healthy way, not just the busy stuff I had to do during the first few months after she died. I miss her a lot but was just vegetating in the house – then went crazy dancing. I realize the error of my ways now – one needs to do little exercises to keep all the muscles going and not just the big ones – like with Zumba and weight training. Exercise like Barre, Pilates and Yoga work the little muscles and tendons and keeping the body flexible to reduce the likelihood of injury. I know now I have to add these types of exercises into my routine.

I also realize that I have to have friendships beyond the social circle of just dance friends whom I know three things about and can ask how you are while dancing. I need social friends to just hang out with other than dancing. I have to widen my world.

In addition, I have to find another goal in life. For the last three years of my Mom’s life I cared for her and she was always in my thoughts – what I had to do for her or someone was calling me telling me that she fell, etc. Now there is a big hole that I have to fill with a new direction. I have many years left and need to be productive – not in a working sense, just as a human being. I want to help others, be of service in some way so I need to find my next volunteer situation.

So how does one make lemonade out of lemons? Start from the beginning, figure out what the lesson is and go from there. The answers always come.

Comments and questions are always welcome.  

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The Expiration Date

September 2, 2023

It’s a common practice to check the expiration date on household products, especially those that we consume. We do this to make sure that we’re not taking anything internally that might have gone bad; the expiration date on the bottom of the item is a marker to tell us how long the manufacturer is guaranteeing that the particular product will stay fresh or ok for us to eat/take. In many cases, it’s still ok to use the product for days, weeks or perhaps months later, but it’s at our own risk. I’ve used milk longer than the noted date and for sure I’ve kept yogurt way longer. But there are some things that have a fixed expiration date and that is the subject of this article.

When we come into this world, we have lots of choices and one could argue that how we leave this life is partly of our doing depending on our life style choices. In terms of our genes, the diseases we could get might be altered based on eating well and exercising. However, at some point, we all have an expiration date. Would you want to know what that date is or are you just as happy not knowing?

I think that it’s better not to know. The new thing is to get gene testing and to see what diseases one may have a pre-disposition to. I believe it’s best to live a healthy life, to exercise, try to stay balanced as much as possible, to engage with others in a caring manner and hope for the best after that. One thing about living into my 7th decade is that I know what I look like approaching old age! I also know how I will feel. For a long time, I tried to stay young, as young as possible by telling everyone that “every day I get younger”. And for quite a long time this philosophy worked! But lately, I feel the fatigue, sometimes the brain fog, the occasional exercise aversion or if I do exercise, the muscle soreness afterwards making it more and more difficult to keep up my routine. In other words, I feel like I’m getting OLD. Oh no! it’s happening… My father never wanted to go to the senior center because that’s where old people were. I always thought that was funny. Now I realize that’s where I am. I have to decide if I will try to keep up or just take on other more leisurely pursuits just to have social interchange.

Regardless, we all have an expiration date and I will deal with mine as gracefully as I can. But not one day early. And, if possible, I’ll try to move it out for a bit…

As always, comments are welcome.

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Remembering the Holocaust

August 14, 2023

In my Monday Jewish Ladies Bible study, someone mentioned a book that they had been reading called, “The Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust”. It’s not what you’d call a good book to read; it’s more like a must book to read. Why do I say this, having just finished it? The story of the Holocaust wiping out six million mostly Jews in Europe but also handicapped and other unfortunates who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in a crazy time, needs to be remembered. The author of this particular book has captured many of the individual accounts of people that either lived through the ordeal of the Holocaust, or recounts the stories of those who didn’t make it. All the stories are of faith, of the horrors of war, of hatred of a people who just happened to be Jewish and thus of massive antisemitism and in the end, of how far people can go believing that it’s ok to do harm to others of another belief system than they hold. I’m writing this article as a reminder to not forget so that it doesn’t happen again.

During the late 1930’s, in Eastern Europe, people lost their jobs because they were Jewish; thus, their livelihood was gone. Regardless of their initial financial status, this situation caused hardship on most. Those that saw what was coming, got on a boat to other places. In some cases, the other places weren’t much safer. Those that were lucky enough to get on a boat to Israel or to the US and were allowed into this country, since there were limited VISAS given to Jews, were able to make a new life. Eventually, Jews were rounded up and put into Ghettos. Then they were deported to concentration camps or worse, taken out in the fields and shot.

When the Germans decided that using bullets wasn’t efficient, they started using gas chambers to take care of THE JEWISH PROBLEM.

This book tells of many who lived through the atrocities of the Holocaust, of man doing harm to man in the most horrific ways, including starvation, rape, intimidation, experimentation on their physical bodies, while working them from dawn to dusk. Many didn’t make it and died. Those that were able to hold onto their beliefs, some “merit” from doing a good deed somewhere else, from a blessing they had received from a Rabbi in their home town before being sent off in cattle cars to the concentration camps, seemed to live on day by day.

I was amazed by each story. At first, reading the survivor accounts made me very sad; then I realized that each story of someone who made it through all the adversity was a symbol of what is possible. It made me realize that nothing that I’m dealing with could ever equal what these people dealt with, thus I need to stand tall and keep moving.

If you want to know the specifics of these stories, please get the book and read them, since the stories are too sad, horrible, and in some cases, earth shattering for me to repeat; one must read the actual account to get the full effect. The author has done a good job of putting each tale together so that the reader can feel what it was like during this awful time in history.

I know that my family came over from Eastern Europe in the early part of the 20th century – perhaps 20 years before the events that shook Europe happened. Had it not been for their desire for a better life, they would have died. Those of the family that didn’t leave when my grandfather and his sisters and brothers left didn’t make it through the war. This is why I have very little family left. Now that my parents are gone and that entire family is gone, there is just me and a few cousins left. The Holocaust wiped out my distant family. My mother was born in 1927, just 10 years before things fell apart in her ancestral land. It was lucky for her and for me that her father came to America.

We need to keep ideas flowing and not restrict them; we need to allow people who think differently and who practice religions different than ours to do so in peace. If we don’t remember what happened “OVER THERE”, it could HAPPEN HERE”. Remembering is the way to not repeat the mistakes of the past.  

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Posted by intuitivelifecoachjoanne

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