(You can listen to me read this post by clicking on the arrow above)
I don't normally tell anyone when I'm going for a check-up at the doctor.
It's almost like posting a picture of what I ate for dinner, on Facebook….. Not very interesting.
But on returning home from this particular visit, my emotions are choking me.
I feel tears welling and I'm shocked that my body is responding this way to a routine appointment.
But here's the thing……..
The death on Feb 23rd of the oldest Holocaust survivor, Alice Herz-Sommer at the age of 110 gave many of us pause for thought.
In 1943, by the time she was imprisoned in the concentration camp in Terezin, Alice was an accomplished musician, married and had a 7 year old child. Playing in the Nazi camp's orchestra, saved her and protected her young son's life. (A documentary of her life just won an Oscar: The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life)
Having her mother transported to Dachau- the death camp, her husband die of typhus in the concentration camp in which she was imprisoned and witnessing the atrocities of the camps, I wondered how Alice not only managed to contain her feelings, survived the wounds of her experiences, but also pieced her life back together.
How did she go on to thrive, grow and live a rich, rewarding, remarkably long life?
There is nothing that can compare to the horrors and evil of the Holocaust, but Alice's story begs the question - how do any of us pick up the shards of our shattered dreams and recover from the difficult challenges life throws at us?
Three Closed Doors
1. In a shocking story reported in the Daily Mail, on CBS news and many other sources, a 20 year old student, Nicholas Barnes was found dead in his dorm room at the University of Chicago, a week after anyone had a record of seeing him.
You may be wondering how it was possible that his neighbors, friends or family, in this technologically savvy century, had not been concerned by his absence.
In the world of instant connectivity via text, Facebook, twitter and mobile phones, how did this happen?
Every day begins with an act of courage and hope: getting out of bed. ~Mason Cooley
When I first read this quote it made me laugh.
Yes! I thought. Courage is definitely needed as winter begins to hint at its arrival.
As hope for a dry, crisp day replaces the hope of a warm, scented one.
As mornings become darker and colder, the changing seasons do that to you. They can make you want to hold the covers high around your body and squeeze your eyes tighter to stop the grey light from seeping in.
I wonder how many of you feel this way on a Monday morning. (Or Tuesday or Wednesday....)
Sleep is a quiet, contemplative space. A time where you can retreat inside of yourself, into your dreams and thoughts and nothingness.
For some, getting out of bed is more than just getting over the alarm clock nudge. It takes true courage and hope to face another day.
You may have had the odd day like that. Or many in a row.
