The Anne Frank House

Getting to visit the Anne Frank House was a very moving experience for me.  I get choked up just reminiscing about it. I discovered Anne Frank in late elementary school.  A librarian recommended her diary to me and I was immediately hooked. This began a life-long interest for me in the Holocaust and World War II.  Looking back on it, I think that reading her story is one of the main things that began my passion for helping people and trying to "fix" situations of injustice.  I have always dreamed of visiting the "Secret Annexe", her hiding place during the War.  I never imagined I would be able to, and I don't think I ever mentioned it to Dan.  As luck would have it, it was better for us to fly in and out of Amsterdam, which helped make this dream a reality.  By taking me to this place, he gave me the best anniversary gift I could ever ask for.  Both Sidney and Lyndon have read a biography about Anne Frank, so they knew all about her.  Sidney is currently reading her diary.  As we waited in line, Lyndon remarked that we could hear the bells of the Westerkerk, which she mentioned frequently in her diary.  That really hit home for me that my kids understood that she was a real person with real experiences just like us.  After about a 30 minute wait, we made it in.

We couldn't take photos inside, which I am thankful for, because I don't think we would have really experienced it if we were worried about taking pictures.  When we actually walked through the original bookcase that hid the entry to their apartment, I teared up a little.  The rooms they lived in were tiny and dark.  To actually be able to see what I had "lived" through reading the diary was incredible and very moving.  I can't say enough about it.  I just know that we are incredibly blessed every day and hope we can always make certain that political climate of oppression and death doesn't happen again.

Anne Frank was a gifted writer at such a young age, and I am glad her words live on.

Here is a picture of the three girls with a statue of Anne Frank outside of the Westerkerk.