anne frank

tonight we went to the anne frank huis. going to this museum was something that i wanted to prepare myself for before hand. for me, i felt it was important to actually re-read her diary, the diary of a young girl, before i went to see where she wrote it; i am so glad that i did.

i believe i read her diary when i was in about the 8th grade. whenever it was, i'm sure that it was required reading, followed by a standard book report. while it was excellent that it was required, i found that i remembered almost nothing; while reading it in the last few weeks i felt as if i was reading it for the very first time. making it even more meaningful was being able to read it in the very city that it was written. having the opportunity to sit on a bench in the jordaan, reading her words and knowing that they were written in the house less than 100 yards away was an experience almost beyond words.

visiting the museum is a very personal experience, so i won't go into detail about the house itself or the emotions i felt, i will only hope that someday you will experience it for yourself.

after leaving the museum we sat in silent reflection on the homomonument, which is a monument dedicated to the memory of the gay population who lost their lives during the holocaust. because we went in the evening, all the tourists had gone home and we were really able to soak it all in. it was beautiful.