Topic: coping
Survivors often have to come to terms with not being able to do anything about the past. Even about having the past validated or acknowledged. Often, as hard it is, faster this can be realized, the faster one can build a personal future that's far different from the past.
The Japanese parents who were shipped off to internments camps in the early 1940's, along with their children, knew there were many things they could not change. Their personal, property assets were ripped from them. Yet they were determined to give their children childhoods that were as happy as possible, filled with a sense of strong community, knowing how to cope when everything familiar is pulled away.
They planted crops, established schools (even without furniture initially), kept things immaculate, and had dances. Demonstrating to their oppressors that they could not possibly take away everything.
Each of us needs to take stock frequently, to live with gratitude, with our eyes on the things that really matter most for the future. Certainly not forgetting the children of today and tomorrow.
