I breathe, therefore I blog.

I was able to get away after bedtime tonight to hear Eva Schloss speak. What an honor it was. I could have sat at her feet for days.

I was moved by her quiet humility. I was frustrated that she was robbed of her adolescence. I was horrified by the acts of inhumanity she suffered. I was angered by her post-liberation silencing.

More than that, though, I was touched by her belief in her parents. It was an unexpected takeaway.

Children expect their parents to be infallible—to have all the answers and to be indefinitely available to them. Her dad couldn’t possibly be dead—she believed he was too strong to die. How could her father--the picture of health and strength and wisdom--die?

The worst kind of hurt is to be let down by one’s own parents (or country, or religion, or friend, or...).

One’s own.