Grief perspective

My Reaction To A Photo From 1946 posted on facebook

Child survivors of Buchenwald for the Star of David, 1946.

It is a picture taken from above, of children of various ages, sitting on the ground, in the shape of a Star of David. It is a very powerful picture, for me.

Two voices in my head…the half empty voice says tragic, sad, heartbreaking, parents gone, scarred for life, grief can be overwhelming……

The half full voice says…triumph, hope to live another day, they will overcome the nightmare, grief is never over but changes over time, a generation that will remember and tell of the horrors so that humanity will NOT forget and will NOT repeat in any variation of any sort the same unfathomable tragedy… against any human being…against any group of people…different skin, hair, eyes, religion, speech, sexual orientation, and on and on…and on…

(and numerous times already there are those that have committed the same thoughtless atrocities in too many parts of the world SHOUTS the first voice…what country will be next??…what group of people??)

Two voices…both result in tears…the tears are a good thing…it means I am still a conscious human being who still has thin skin, who still gets emotional at such sights, who will do what he can to stop such things from happening, who can feel the grief but not stay paralyzed by it.

Then the two voices are no longer two… but one, in unison…one powerful voice.

Neal Klein
Life After Emilee, on the loss of my wife to pancreatic cancer. I’m not accepting comments right now but please feel free to get in touch via my Contact page.