< Back Stephanie's Story In this story, Stephanie discusses one of her professors. Even if they didn’t always see eye-to-eye, Stephanie greatly valued their presence in her life, as well as their advice. Their mentorship will stay with her throughout her life. 00:00 / 02:28 Annabel: Well, is there one person in your life - maybe a professor at your school, or a relative back in Ghana, or a neighbor - is there anybody that you have looked up to that has had an enormous influence on you and choices you’ve made? Or career goals? Stephanie: Yeah, there is one person. I mean, to be honest, it was - like - she did pass away. She was a professor at UMass. She was a bio professor. I mean, she didn’t teach because she hated teaching. She was more focused on lab work, though, that was what she did. And she researched cancer and viruses, she was a virology professor, basically. Annabel: Oh, wow. Stephanie: Yeah, and - at the beginning, I didn’t like her. Cause, we just didn’t match. At the beginning I didn’t like her. And then, she kept forcing me to meet her, so then, I met her, and, yeah, we just started talking. I’m like, “Oh, okay! That’s an interesting perspective! Let me try this and see whether it works. And then, yeah, I just kept coming to her, and then we built that bond, of talking, and figuring out what I’m going to do in the future. And, yeah. But she basically was trying to force me to go to grad school. Annabel: Wow! Stephanie: Yeah, and be a scientist! And I’m like, “No! I don’t want to be a scientist!” But, let me see how this goes. I’m going to try your method and see whether it works - if it doesn’t we can think about something else. But yeah, I liked that about - every time I’d go to her, she’d give me the options. Like, you can do this, you can do this, you can do this. These are the steps you can do, these are the steps, dadadadada. This is what I did, and this is what you can do. But yeah, um, she unfortunately passed away. So I felt like it was kind of unfinished. Like, yeah, I feel like we didn’t finish talking about what we were supposed to talk about. Annabel: I assume that it has impacted your career goals. Stephanie: Yeah, definitely. I mean - I still don’t want to be a scientist. If she was here, she’d be like “ahahaha! Let’s see what happens in the future.” I still don’t want to be a scientist, but I am interested in viruses and virology, so we’ll see how it goes. Annabel: Wow. Previous Next

< Back Taylor's Story Taylor talks about transitioning into UMass as a transfer student and finding her passion for Public Health. She found that public health captures all the things she loves including caring for others. 00:00 / 02:43 < Back Taylor's Story Taylor talks about transitioning into UMass as a transfer student and finding her passion for Public Health. She found that public health captures all the things she loves including caring for others. Scroll to listen 00:00 / 02:43 I first intended to go into nursing, so when I was in highschool I was applying to colleges and I only was applying for nursing. So I got into Quinnipiac University for nursing and that’s where I went my freshman year. I wanted to do that because I wanted to do something taking care of people, that was really important to me and I grew up with three younger siblings, I always liked caring for others, especially children. So, I thought that nursing aligned with my beliefs and what I wanted to do. And then I went to nursing school and I didnt love it. So, I just kind of relieved that yes it's helping people but I would rather be on the administrative end and also I didn't love the school that I was going to, I didn’t feel a sense of community. I was trying to find a different school to go to, and my best friend went to school at UMass so I would come and visit her and I ended up liking the school a lot better. So I transferred here but I couldn’t transfer for nursing, and I was still interested in nursing at the time, but I wasn’t completely sold on it yet. So, I transferred and I was like I just want to do something in health care, I don’t really care what it is, So I just kind of picked public health and was like we’ll figure this out and if I need to change programs I will later. And so, I went into public health, my first class was my public health 200 class with Gloria, the professor of this class also, and it was basically an intro to public health and I immediately was like, yep this is what I want to do, this is helping people and doing something in health care, but it’s not nursing and I know that’s not what I want to do. This is exactly what I want. And then, I took a community health development class and I knew that that would be much more of the direction that I would like to go in than nursing. Going into college, or at least me graduating highschool, I had the expectation that I would know what I wanted to do and that I would stick to it and that nothing was gonna change about it, and that I was gonna be a nurse, and you know, graduate and be a nurse. So the fact that didn’t work out, part of me was a little disappointed because I was like, oh I thought this was what I wanted to do, but I think that was part of me figuring out what I wanted to do and who I am. And learning to trust the process, I think was a big thing. And trust yourself! Yeah, definitely. Previous Next

< Back Sophy's Story, Fall 2025 Sophy recalls a dramatic encounter with a ghost in her Brooklyn apartment that left a lasting impact on her life. 00:00 / 04:38 Interviewer: I wanted to ask you about a story that you have that's affected you in some way. Sophy: And I've come up with one that happened to me when I was 28, and I had just moved to Brooklyn Heights, New York, with my husband and two little children. And that I say, little children, I mean, they were really little. Sarah was maybe two, and Molly was just a baby. And so, I'm a young mother not knowing what I'm doing, taking care of two babies. And we have this beautiful apartment in Brooklyn looking out over the Statue of Liberty. It has a walnut paneled bedroom, a little dressing room for me, huge bedroom for the two girls. And it's just gorgeous. We had hardly moved to this apartment from Washington when David, my husband, who is working for the New York Times, and he sent out on some assignment someplace, leaving me the second day that we're there to make my own way. One night, it's about 10 o'clock at night and I was sitting in the little dressing room making a dress for my little girl, Sarah. So I'm working on the sewing machine, making this little bitty dress, and all of a sudden I had this sense that there's someone, have you had that? Where you feel that there's someone in the room, and you look up and there isn't anyone at all. I looked up, and there was a man standing in the doorway. Only I could see through him. There were three things that I knew about him: that he was good, that he was troubled, and that he was not going to hurt me, exactly. But he's not supposed to be there. He's a ghost. And I turned my back, and I thought, okay, I've been alone too long. I'm going bananas. So I'm sitting there like this, with my head in my hands. And he walked up behind me. I couldn't see him, but I knew that he was walking up behind me. And he put his hand on my shoulder like this, and his hand was cold as dry ice. I burst out and sweat. I knew that his hand on my shoulder intended to comfort me. And then he went away, and suddenly thought he's gone to see the children in their room. And I shot out into the little hallway before you get to the children's room. And then I stopped. I could not go in the children's room. It was as if there was a hand at my chest. And then I walked into my bedroom, and he appears on the window seat looking at me. I decided I had to take command of this situation. And I said to him, “I don't know who you are, but you are welcome to stay in this house with us. But I want you to know that I love this apartment, and you are not to do any harm to it whatsoever. If I find that you have hurt this apartment, I will exorcise you immediately. If you're going to stay, your job will be to take care of my children and make sure that nothing happens to them. If you agree to these terms, you can stay, and if you can't, then you have to go away.” He listened to me very gravely. And then he got up, and he walked past me and down the stairs into the kitchen and out the back kitchen door. But he was showing me, I think, that he wasn't going to stay. And the minute that he was gone, I felt totally myself again. I thought, now that was really queer. I checked the children, and they're fine. And I went back into my, back to the sewing machine. And just then the telephone rings. It was my landlady, Mrs. Glass. And she said, I just can't stop thinking about you in that apartment and about my husband and how much he loved that apartment. He was a gynecologist, and his offices were in the basement of the Brownstone. We had the two floors, and they rented the two floors above that. And his special little room was the drawing room, the little dressing room on the other side. And I didn't tell her that I had just seen him. I've thought about it a lot. He's not the only ghost I've seen. I've seen many, many, many ghosts, but that was the first one that I saw, and the most dramatic for me, who didn't know what I believed about God or life after death or any of it. But I, it's always been on my heart that I didn't tell her that I'd seen him. If I had to do it over again, I would have. But that moment with that ghost did change my life. Previous Next

< Back Joan A's Story Listen to Joan as she talks about her Auntie Delly and the role her Aunt played in shaping Joan's life in the past and the present. 00:00 / 03:55 Hi, I'm Joan Axelrod-Contrada, and this is my story about how Auntie Delly became my feminist role model! I grew up with a mother who was a traditional suburban housewife. Mom always seemed a little bored and depressed. Once I was in the car with Mom when she stopped at a gas station and signed the receipt, Mrs. Maynard Axelrod. Why didn't she use her own first name? She told me that only divorced women sign their names that way. The only times mom really lit up were when her older sisters came to town. Mom's sisters bore an uncanny resemblance to the girls in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Adele Herwitz, my Auntie Delly, was Jo, the adventurous one. She had an exciting career as a nursing executive and was a feminist long before anyone had ever heard the word. She represented the American Nurses Association at the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Auntie Delly traveled the world, first as the Executive Director of the International Council of Nurses, and then as the founder of a new organization in Philadelphia that credentialed international nurses to practice in the US. As a teenager and young woman, I got into journalism, a field that called for just the kind of curiosity and adventurous spirit that Auntie Delly represented to me from an early age. Interviewer: And in what ways would you say your Auntie Delly was adventurous and inspiring to you? Joan: Well, Auntie Delly once told me she wasn't a beige type of woman. She loved the color turquoise, which is why I'm wearing turquoise today. And she decorated her apartments in a striking combination of turquoise, red, and black. She was such a strong career woman that everyone in the family worried that she'd be miserable when she retired. Instead, though, Auntie Delly thrived in retirement, moving to Brookline Massachusetts to be near her sisters. he enrolled in Harvard's Program for Learning and Retirement, took up watercolor painting, went to movies at the Coolidge Corner Cinema, and joined the League of Women Voters. She also took a real interest in my career, my husband, and my kids. Interviewer: Do you have any other fond memories of Auntie Delly that were your favorite? Joan: Yeah, Auntie Delly founded a holiday that we called Aunt's Day, in which she took the entire family out to eat. And she made every outing an adventure. Once she gave Fred the kids and me each $20 to get whatever we wanted at Trader Joe's, she turned a shopping trip into a true scavenger hunt. She used to say, it's one thing to put yourself first, it's something else to put yourself first, second, third, and fourth. I use that line often on my kids to get them to distinguish between legitimate self-care and being inconsiderate to all the rest of us. I'm trying to live this last third of my life with a spirit of adventure that Auntie Delly represented to me. And like her, I consider myself a lifelong learner. And I'm currently working on a collection of essays called ‘Rock On! A Baby Boomer's Playlist for Life After Loss’. And I plan to dedicate the book to my Auntie Delly. Previous Next

< Back Jesse's Story Jesse talks with Lauren about being wrongfully accused and sent to prison. He shares the lessons he learned during that difficult time. Scroll to listen 00:00 / 04:41 “The toughest thing I went through was, when I was in college, I had a little run in with the law over a marijuana issue. When the whole thing started I was 18 years old. I was in college out in Western Pennsylvania. That particular town was under very, very right winged conservative area. They were down on drugs. I was accused of selling $15 worth of marijuana. And went to trial. It really should never even gone to trial. I mean they had no real evidence. There were four people in the room at the time it was supposed to have happened and three of them said it didn't happen, and one of them said it did. And they decided to believe that one person. I was the only one. I was pretty sure it was because I was Jewish and there a very strong anti-Semitic taint to the whole thing. So I was convicted. The judge said, as far as he’s concerned, selling drugs is as bad as murder. So he gave me the maximum sentence, even though it was my first offense. He gave me 3 years in prison. I didn’t take it seriously, I really didn’t think I was gonna go to prison. It just seemed so outrageous. My lawyer was taking an appeal then I got a call one day from my father and he said, the appeal fell through and you have to go to prison. So, I freaked out, I was 21 years old at the time. Really didn’t know what to expect. My first week there was very very scary. It was overcrowded, so they didn’t have room for me in the part of the prison where they first introduce people. So I was put in solitary confinement for a week, which was really not a lot of fun. I thought my life was over at that point. Prison is like hell. It’s like everybody’s there, it's full of anger and aggression, but I found some friends there, actually. There were several people there, that were there for drug related offenses, you know, marijuana. And we weren’t criminals, you know, we were just kids who got caught up in a system. Because I had friends, I was able to make it through. Could’ve gotten out in one year, but it didn't seem like that was gonna happen. They wanted me to repent and say that what I had done was wrong. I was adamant that I thought the drug laws were wrong. I didn't really repent and they took that as a mark against me. So I didn’t know how long I’d be in there. It was a hard thing. One of the things that got me through was, I had a girlfriend before I ended up there. She wrote me almost everyday. She would write me a letter like almost everyday, at least 5 or 6 times a week. And that really helped me make it through, getting those letters everyday, really lifted my spirits. It turned out that my father was really not very good. I went to prison because of him. He told me he had taken the appeals, but didn’t. He told the lawyer not to take the appeals. And that’s why I ended up going to prison, my own father. And I didn't find that out until later. My mother hired a lawyer from the national organization for the reform of marijuan laws and he told me, he says, “they never took the appeals, you had grounds for appeals but they never took it.” He applied for what's called, commutation, which is reeducation of sentence. My mother went to court and testified for me. One day I was about 8 months into my sentence and they called me up and said, “do you have a job for when you get out of prison?” I said, “what are you talking about? I’m not getting out for another 2 and half years.”And they said, “No, right here it says you’re getting out next month.” I said, “what?!” And sure enough the commutation had gone through and nobody had told me. I was released from prison after about 7 or 8 months. So I was really, really, happy about that. I was so excited. That day I got out I was so happy. I felt so good. It was like, okay, I made it through that. If I can make it through that, I can make it through anything. So I felt really confident, really good, and really proud of myself that I had made it through and I hadn’t turned bitter, and I hadn’t gotten worse. You know, like, I got out and went right back to school, got my degree and went on to graduate school. In some ways, prison helped me, I mean I would not recommend it to anybody, it wasn’t worth it, but it did help me. It did help me focus my life. I guess the main lesson I learned was that no matter how bad it gets, there is a way forward and there's a way out. Nothing bad lasts forever. I still feel that freedom I felt on the day I got let out, the strength I felt. I can still tap into that today. As bad as things get, they eventually end. Bad things don’t last forever and there’s a way through. That’s what I learned.” Previous Next

< Back Taylor's Story Taylor talks about transitioning into UMass as a transfer student and finding her passion for Public Health. She found that public health captures all the things she loves including caring for others. Scroll to listen 00:00 / 02:43 I first intended to go into nursing, so when I was in highschool I was applying to colleges and I only was applying for nursing. So I got into Quinnipiac University for nursing and that’s where I went my freshman year. I wanted to do that because I wanted to do something taking care of people, that was really important to me and I grew up with three younger siblings, I always liked caring for others, especially children. So, I thought that nursing aligned with my beliefs and what I wanted to do. And then I went to nursing school and I didnt love it. So, I just kind of relieved that yes it's helping people but I would rather be on the administrative end and also I didn't love the school that I was going to, I didn’t feel a sense of community. I was trying to find a different school to go to, and my best friend went to school at UMass so I would come and visit her and I ended up liking the school a lot better. So I transferred here but I couldn’t transfer for nursing, and I was still interested in nursing at the time, but I wasn’t completely sold on it yet. So, I transferred and I was like I just want to do something in health care, I don’t really care what it is, So I just kind of picked public health and was like we’ll figure this out and if I need to change programs I will later. And so, I went into public health, my first class was my public health 200 class with Gloria, the professor of this class also, and it was basically an intro to public health and I immediately was like, yep this is what I want to do, this is helping people and doing something in health care, but it’s not nursing and I know that’s not what I want to do. This is exactly what I want. And then, I took a community health development class and I knew that that would be much more of the direction that I would like to go in than nursing. Going into college, or at least me graduating highschool, I had the expectation that I would know what I wanted to do and that I would stick to it and that nothing was gonna change about it, and that I was gonna be a nurse, and you know, graduate and be a nurse. So the fact that didn’t work out, part of me was a little disappointed because I was like, oh I thought this was what I wanted to do, but I think that was part of me figuring out what I wanted to do and who I am. And learning to trust the process, I think was a big thing. And trust yourself! Yeah, definitely. Previous Next

< Back Zara's Story Zara reflects on the transformative impact of her EMT program supervisor, who served as a mentor during a challenging summer of hands-on clinical training. Despite her initial self-doubt, exhaustion, and imposter syndrome, her supervisor provided persistent encouragement, teaching through direct experience and fostering confidence. She emphasizes that her mentor showed her that success in medicine comes not just from quick learning, but from humility, dedication, and genuine care for others. This experience highlighted the importance of mentorship in helping individuals grow, develop self-awareness, and build both professional and personal confidence. 00:00 / 03:23 I didn't have too much of a traditional professor that I'm about to talk about, but it was my EMT supervisor, program director, professor. And this was before I had any clinical experience at all, so I was trying to get into it. It was a pretty rigorous program, but it was probably one of the best periods of my life. I took that whole summer to learn and immerse myself in that clinical care. Even though it was technically learning, it was, like, the best learning I've ever had. It wasn't like sitting down and listening to lectures, or someone standing at a podium and grading research papers. It was not really a traditional experience for me, but that's what made his impact so powerful. I think he taught in a way that met students where they were at and with patience, persistence, and genuine care. And for someone like me, who is balancing being a full-time student, and I had a job at the time, also, when I was in school, so it just meant everything to have somebody who accounted for all those things. I am also a person; I also have things going on, but somebody believes in me in that aspect, which was very powerful. And I would say when I first entered the EMT program, I was excited, but also exhausted. That summer I was trying to manage my own health and work and maximize my summer. It was the summer after my freshman year, so it was my first college summer break. I didn't always walk into that classroom being the most extroverted, confident, ball of energy. Some days, things didn't click, and my hands would shake during some scenarios, and it was all new to me. So, even if I reviewed a protocol ten times, and it vanished the moment I was called on, he still never gave up on me, which was just another thing of having that mentor in your life that just believes in you. And, it's the most encouraging thing. So, I would say, that being said, there's a specific kind of mentorship that changes you. I would say that my supervisor helped me reclaim my confidence at a time that I desperately needed it. I had a lot of imposter syndrome happening at that time. I was, like, I don't know, I'm doing all these things that an emergency responder would do, but I don't feel like it yet. I was doubting myself, but he helped me reclaim that confidence, and he reminded me that in medicine, it's not always a person who learns things the fastest that becomes the best provider. It's the one who keeps showing up, the one that stays humble, the one that listens deeply and never loses sight of the human being in front of them. Cause it's a good thing to learn quickly and adapt quickly, which I can also do in scenarios, as well. But, just actually dedicating your life to what you do is the most important part of it. I like to think of myself as a hands-on learner, a visual learner. I like to do things, and it's hard to do things and learn if nobody believes in you. So, I think having that mentor to be there to push you, to believe in you, is just so important in any type of mentor-mentee relationship. I think that it's really powerful to have a mentor in your life, whether that's a teacher or, you know, even an older sibling or even a parent, just guiding you through these things in your life and kind of helping you find that self-awareness, so that you can better yourself and grow as a person. I think that's really important. Previous Next

< Back Lynn's Story 00:00 / 04:44 Previous Next

< Back Julie Julie talks with Jeanne about the legacy of love that her Nana and Papa created and how they shared their love with their family. Upon reflections of her Nana moving in, she learned much more about both love and life through her time spent with her Nana. 00:00 / 03:31 Previous Next

< Back Julia's Story Julia reflects on what her life might look like in sixty years. She explains her values and emphasis on how she strives to be someone her family and others can lean on. 00:00 / 03:43 Jonathan: “When somebody says to you ‘in 50 or 60 years you will be in your late 70s’ and let’s assume that you're moderately healthy, what comes to your head?” Julia: “So trying to look into the future like that, I say what first comes to mind is thinking about my family. Um, I have an older sister who right now is 24 so 60 years from now, she’ll be 84. And then I have two younger brothers, one who is about to be 18 so he’ll be 78 from now. Then I have a youngest brother who just turned 14 so he’ll be 74 but I hope that 60 years from now we’re all still close together–I hope we’re all still around. But um, I see family being a big part of my life. I always love looking forward to going home. I’m from Eastern, Mass. so if I want to spend a weekend back home I have that ability to just drive back. Um, I hope that that’s the kind of relationship that I have 60 years from now. I hope that I’m able to still hold onto that connection with my siblings.” Jonathan: “Do you think that this family relationship is equally as important to your brothers and sister? Do you think they would say the same?” Julia: “I hope they would say the same! Um, I’m not positive I mean my older sister–she is very–she heavily prioritizes relationships with people so outside of family she is very much so always putting herself out and trying to stay connected with her friends from highschool and from college. On the contrary, I’d say I’m the opposite of her. I like having friends and I love knowing people but also I’ve always been a busy person and I’m okay with doing my own thing and if I know people and have people to hang out with that’s great but if not, I’m still okay with continuing to be individual. I think I will continue to keep a strong relationship with my siblings and if I have a spouse, them–being able to keep a strong relationship with them and their family ‘cause I love having big get-togethers and catching up with people. And I value the relationship with a few people as long as it's a strong one and genuine.” Jonathan: “Assuming that–maybe it’s the wrong assumption–but assuming for the moment that your partner/you’re married or whatever in 50 or 60 years, how important is it that that person be close to your siblings?” Julia: “Um, I think it’s pretty important. I mean, right now I’m in a relationship and I don’t know what 60 years will look like but I’ve been in a relationship for almost 3 years and I value being very close with his family and they are people that I’m very close with and I wanna have a really close relationship and be someone that they can turn to if they need anything!” Previous Next

< Back Janice's Story In this story, Janice explains her life long connection to animals and how her experiences working with animals have become her most fulfilling achievements. 00:00 / 03:36 Janice: I have to say I was drawn to animals from the very start of my life. As soon as I—I grew up in the woods basically and explored a lot and can’t remember a time where animals weren’t special to me. I had a parakeet when I was a kid, as an adult I’ve had dogs, cats, rabbits, snakes, turtles, fish, a wonderful rat who traveled around on my shoulder, mice, gerbils, guinea pigs—I’ve might of left something out but you get the picture. When I got to be an adult, I read more, I learned more, and I started to support a lot of animal welfare organizations. And I got older I transitioned from animal welfare to animal rights. And basically, now I think I support both of them. The experience I’ve had with the most depth was also volunteering for a shelter, but this was for their training department. I worked as an assistant trainer for five years. I had just—I just learned so much. I mean, I was essentially was just thrown out to the training and floor and said, “ok now you work with them.” Rebecca: Oh my—what were you working with, dogs? Janice: Oh yes, dogs. Many of which were shelter dogs, and a lot of those owners were kind of really at the end of their rope because they couldn’t get the dog to respond the way the wanted it to and it almost was like we were the last stop before being returned to the shelter. So I realized that my biggest job was to make get the owners to like their dogs, and to get the dogs to trust the owners, and to get them all to realize training was fun. I had an amazing assortment of dogs. In five years, you can imagine—a golden retriever who wouldn’t work at all for treats but would do anything for a hug; a Doberman pinscher who had to do everything behind a curtain because she was so frightened of all the other dogs. I had dogs—little Shih Tzus—who had terrible abuse histories who just tried so hard. They were so earnest and so brave. There was another dog there who was being raised in a bilingual household and we had to say, “Bueno! Bueno!” I was never bored. I was in my element. I became the hotline for my friends and family who were having trouble with their dogs, and I only stopped when I moved away. When I moved away from Massachusetts to Maryland. I do consider it one of the greatest experiences of my life. Rebecca: That sounds so incredible. Janice: I’m proud. Rebecca: You should be. Janice: You know, I’ve had a lot of jobs, a lot of professional positions, and I have two master’s degrees, but when people ask me what I do, well I say I’m a former dog trainer because I’m just so happy that I did that. Previous Next

< Back Pat's Story Pat speaks about her journey in Little Falls, Minnesota. Here, she went on a profound healing journey and learned the power of forgiveness. While in Little Falls she met a special friend who showed her what she had been longing for. Scroll to listen 00:00 / 04:43 So this was a bit of my experience at Little Falls. Every day in the time I was there, there was profound healing experiences, there was all kinds of exercises some would say exercisims ya know where I went back and new relations to my parents wrote letters to them from me and to them umm and I felt like okay Ive done this already ya know I have gone through all the hell of my childhood. Was this really worth the airfare? Um well as it turns out it really was okay so after I wrote letters about my rage and hurt I wrote letters from them to me explaining why they were such a mess and why they were such awful parents and that was a killer I could begin to really understand how miserable their lives were the empathetic ya know writing these letters was very powerful at the end of it we had a big ceremony to burn all of the letters letting them go, watching the ashes rise float away which was providing us with a bit of healing and a chance of freedom I hope. So after breakfast, we got our coats on and we were asked to line up outside no explanation of why the sisters who lived there the residents came out and walked our line, handing each of us two red carnations cynicism was creeping into my mind our assignment this was so weird was to walk in a line all 30 of us in silence to a cemetery that was on the property and once we got to the gate of the cemetery we were to disperse and find graves that might have been those of our parents whether they were actually alive or dead we would lay down our carnations and say a final goodbye okay for some reason this struck me absolutely ridiculous, ludicrous and as I watched the 29 other walk into this vast catholic cemetery to find their parents quote on quote parents graves I refused to participate I was rebeling enough already Ill show they I just stand here after some time I have no idea how long I got bored standing there along and decided to walk in and wonder amid the graves I hadnt walked 100 feet when I looked down and what I saw in this catholic cemetery in this monastery were 2 grave stones side by side with Jewish stars this was too weird to be a coidindence so I stopped I knelt down for a closer look and something broke in me something big it was like flood gates opened as I started to do as I was told and say goodbye and complete my assignment I started to sob I mean serious unstoppable sobs like years and years of sobs and as the tears fell on my carnations I felt such deep sadness for them, my parents, for me for lost opprotunites for all those years I felt reallt sad my mother had died young at 60 well before I had developed any understanding of her pain and the lonliness that caused her bahvior and Id never be able to tell her I understood and was sorry for my contributions to that I never had a chance to tell her I really loved her I have no idea how long I stood there sobbing years and years when suddenly I felt this very gentle arm around my shoulder a gentle touch which brought me back and i looked up to see that tiny frail indian women in her street clothes who looked to me for support earlier that week holding me with a betivic smile on her face she gently helped me up and held me for a few moments she said shed been worried when she didnt see me back at the house and became worried for me And as she held me and she stroked my hair im crying just thinking about it and told me that she loved me and in that moment I experienced unconditional love for the first time and I understood that above all else thats what id been weeping for. Previous Next