Today is Yom Hashoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day. Over sixty years the Nazis took power and the horrors of the Holocaust began and we use this day to remember and educate ourselves. I commemorate it every year by lighting a candle. When I was in grade 11, I was so fortunate to participate in a program called March of the Living, where teenage high school students travel to Poland to visit and learn about the concentration camps and life for the Jews during the war years. To say, it changed my life, would be an understatement. The most meaningful part of the experience took place on Yom Hashoah itself and it was the march--"the three-kilometer distance separating Auschwitz from Birkenau, the largest concentration camp complex built by the Nazis during World War II", where thousands of students from all over the world marched together. Every year, I reflect back on that trip and how it has changed my life. Genocide continues to happen today in many places in the world, and we cannot sit idly by while Innocent people are dying. "Those who cannot remember history are doomed to repeat it. ." --George Santayana. Ok, enough, I'm getting off my soapbox.
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Last night was girls' night with one of my oldest friends. I LOVE spending time with her and she always puts me in a better mood. We have been friends since we were 8 years when we met at summer camp. This friend puts things in perspective for me (and if I have already mentioned her, I'm sorry to repeat). She is thirty and single, not. by. choice. Think about it, we are all so wrapped up in our infertile lives, seeing pregnant ladies everywhere we go and constantly hearing the newest announcement, but at least we come home to our husbands who comfort us. When we want to have an escape, we go out for a nice dinner or something of the like. She can't do any of this. Over the past two and half years, she has tried to meet someone. Blind dates, set ups and even Internet dating sites, but nothing has come from this. It just puts things in perspective for me a little. It sucks for her, just like infertility sucks for me. We commiserate, bitch and then do something totally fun, like see the movie Date Night. Super funny. Absolutely NO pregnant women, infertility or anything else that would make an IFer upset, I recommend for a great pick me up.
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I spent the day with my sister. This was the first time we have hung out since her email. We have spoken on the phone daily, but I have been very short and just made up excuses to get off (I don't think she noticed though). So today, we actually went out. It went well. We did not talk about her email, and I tried my best to follow the rules, but I will admit, I got in a few belly sneaks and such. There were so many times today that I wanted to yell, just wait one more month, please...but I didn't. I have never been one to keep quiet, but today I was reserved. The funny thing is, I don't think she noticed. If this becomes a common theme, it will not be good for our relationship. But I need to think positively. I need to think that God has a plan and in the end it will all work out the way it needs to. I just need to keep on believing in this.
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Today is my grandparents anniversary. They have been married for sixty two years. It is the most amazing thing to see and gives me something to strive for.
-R.
i will be lighting a candle with you tonight in remembrance. have you ever had the chance to go to DC to the Holocaust Museum? you have to go. it is a great memorial to what those poor people had to endure. there is a section right before you are lead out to the eternal flame where it is just a room full of the shoes that were found there. that hit me the hardest, just seeing the humanity of the shoes that were left. terrible.
ReplyDeleteon a happier note, i am glad you had a great day with your friend and sis. and congrats to your grandparents! how sweet and yes, definitely something to strive for.
xoxo
Lis- Yes, I went to DC a while ago. It was amazing. I found the "Daniel's Story" exhibit (about a made up child and his story) so moving. Thanks for sharing your experience.
ReplyDeleteHey there! I think I just realized I know you from IVFC! It always takes me awhile to connect the internet dots. I'll be following you here and there now!
ReplyDeleteMy sister is a single, 26 (almost 27) y/o mother of two. She is not single by choice. And if we're all really honest, she did not intentionally become a mother either. She and I have compared her quest for a man to my quest for a baby many a time. They are really quite similar quests!
ReplyDeleteI got a minor in religious studies focusing on Judaic studies because of my experience at the Holocaust museum. The trip you went on sounds very interesting.
ReplyDeleteMs2Mrs- the trip was the most amazing experience of my life. I learned so much and we went with actual Holocaust survivors so we heard their experiences as well. One of the survivors was a child who has "adopted" by a Christian family and she reunited with them in Poland...so amazing.
ReplyDeleteI tried to check out your blog, but it is locked. I also have a degree in Judaic studies.