FREEDOM

  The forest seems very empty yesterday.  Hopefully the next few days will be a little warmer and a lot dryer.

It was strange when I left the dentist office I met a lady all dressed in black who was begging.  She says she and a few others sleep in the park.  I had a McDonald's gift certificate in my purse so  gave her that.  She was thrilled.  She had a buggy filled with her worldly possessions.  She was ever so grateful.   One cannot help but wonder what had brought her to this sad state.  She appeared to be hopeful as well as grateful.

  As I walked home I am reminded to examine my own life and take time to appreciate what is truly important.  Having the freedom to make choices gives life purpose and meaning. 

 

The next day I would start reading :A Century Of Wisdom" the lessons learned from Alive Herz-Sommer the world's oldest  Holocaust Survivor.  She was able to earn a living by playing the piano at concerts and teaching music.  She had grown up in a peaceful environment in Prague, this would all change years later when Czech laws were abolished and the city was deluge with Nazi flags and Jews were being mistreated. She was taken with her husband and son to the concentration camp called Theresientadt.  This was no ordinary camp but a place where Jewish musicians writers, artists were protected from the war.

 

When she was freed from the camp she had no home, and had lost both her mother and husband brutally murdered by the Germans.  At first her husband was at the same camp but would be forced to travel to Auschwitz.  There he died of starvation and exposure.  In his last whispered words to her he advised her to never volunteer for anything , never believe anything the Germans say.  This would stop her from volunteering to go on the train where she could have joined him unaware of the place the train would take them.

 

She was a gifted pianist but it was her optimistic spirit that would keep her free in her mind and spirit.

 

She would return to her country  after surviving imprisonment. which now was under Communism .  Her sisters would eventually persuade her to flee to Israel but the small plane  authorized to take cargo would fly her there but the plane ran low on fuel and crashed in the water.  The crew survived uninjured but again her piano was lost.  She says she knew she had had to leave Czechoslovakia but her past experiences gave her the courage to take desperate means to do so.

 

Although there is a lot wrong in our government we are thankful for our freedoms.  Thankful to be alive!  Thankful for music and books and being able to keep in touch with family and friends on my blog!

 

Dad is going to the skin doctor today to get something cut out.  He has a very good doctor thankfully!