July 24 & 25, 2010

July 24 & July 25, 2010
Yesterday was a very long one for all of us. We left Warsaw at 9:30 am and flew to Frankfort arriving a little later than expected. We had to change terminals and didn’t have a good deal of time – so imagine 27 people double timing it through an airport and trying to stay together! We made it in time for the 8 ½ hour flight to Washington. Of course, the plane was full, but I had a window seat and it was a beautiful day - so I was able to see Scotland, the tip of Greenland, and Newfoundland. All of our luggage arrived safely!! The problem was that the bus that was to pick us up never showed, so we took several taxis to our hotel!!! It’s always something, but we handled it with ease!!!
Today we were at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum an hour before it opened, so that we could view it again. It was amazing how differently we looked at the artifacts and exhibits - knowing that we had stood at the sites we were seeing. There was a group of boy scouts that came in right after us and we felt good sharing some of our newfound knowledge with them. In the afternoon, we listened to a survivor, Mr. Henry Greenbaum, a local resident, who volunteers at the museum. He was extremely interesting and made us appreciate the importance of geography and luck. I was able to have my picture taken with him and was very proud to meet him.
Tonight, we had a farewell dinner, with steak (yeah, no chicken!!) and important memories from our trip. Many of the participants spoke about the importance of the women sharing time with Elaine at Belzec and our appreciation of her sharing part of her story with us. I shared my deeper appreciation of the survivors that I work with after taking in the feelings, sights and sounds of Auschwitz and the other concentration camps.
We meet tomorrow morning and then leave for various airports and railroad stations. We’ve grown very close over the last few weeks and it is going to be difficult to part – there is a reunion of all American Gathering groups every two years, and so we will plan to meet again in 2012. In the meantime, the New England contingent plan to meet in NYC in the fall!

I'm tired - as are the rest of us! We need a vacation from our vacation!

Thanks for being part of this wonderful journey!! Linda