Before Anne, I was a glass-half-empty person. I was in despair. Those were dark days indeed...
Knowing Anne through her diary made me a glass-half-full person. I can still be sad and depressed, of course. However, I will never look at life again from a dark and gloomy heart. In my own words: "She is my first contact star; my light against despair."
After Anne, the skies above my soul, day and night, became full of stars. I appreciate her very much.
Ok, here's a quote I got from her diary that resonates a lot with me:
"I don't have much in the way of money or worldly possessions, I'm not beautiful, intelligent or clever, but I'm happy, and I intend to stay that way! I was born happy, I love people, I have a trusting nature, and I'd like everyone else to be happy too." Anne Frank, 19440325sat
Which brings me to the gist of my post...
Opekta was Otto Frank's company at 263 Prinsengracht that sold pectin for making jams. I happened upon some of Opekta's old adverts and it struck me... Anne's cheer is sweet as jam...
The horror of the Holocaust notwithstanding, the people we lost during that time and all the people we, as humanity, are losing in the name of hatred, ignorance and indifference* deserve to be remembered by the light of their own lives also. For history will incline us to remember the fallen by the gravity of their loss. Time is severe in its account but we shouldn't be... after all, time is for man.
It is up to us how we shall remember those whose silence oblige us to abide in the memory.
*the hatred of a few, the ignorance of some, and the indifference of many - a proven formula for war and genocide
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I used derive from history the blackest of hate. But from the memory, I caught a glimpse in the night through the hurt, a multitude of stars so great... my hate turned to love, my hope returned again to heaven above.