I
have wept tears of joy, tears of appreciation, tears of sadness... tonight
I wept, but the emotion is hard to describe.
I am in Mostar,
Bosnia. I am staying with a man who lived through, participated in, lost
friends and family members to, has rebuilt his house because of, and vividly
remembers the 1990's and the devastation ("devastation" by most
"modern" standards) that impacted this area. The bullet holes in
buildings all over the area paint a picture, but I am, even with my vivid
imagination and highly trained empathy, sure my picture can't compare to the
reality.
A similar feeling
occurred when I stayed with an Austrian family in Vienna. The mother and child
(a baby at the time), were buried alive when bombs were dropped on their farm
in the 1940's. Neighbors dug them out, and the yet to be conceived daughter of
that woman(the baby at the time) became the gracious couchsurfing host that I
was able to share meals with (meals from their postwar, replanted
garden).
Tonight I wept.
Tonight I appreciate.
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