The gift of a diary. . .

Since I read Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl for the first time as a schoolgirl, I’ve been inspired by the life and writings of the girl who was my earliest teacher on the atrocities of the Holocaust. While a student in France during college, I was fortunate enough to travel to Amsterdam and visit the Anne Frank House Museum. I remember touring the exhibit with tears in my eyes.

Anne’s words probably inspired many of us to put pen to paper and document our days. I like to think that if she had survived the war and was living today, she likely would have been a blogger!

This year, my Adam read the diary for the first time. His take on the musings of a girl his age was the source of many mother son conversations this spring, as he started to keep his own journal. This week, it was announced that in commemoration of what would have been her 80th birthday, the entire collection of Anne’s original writings will now be on rotating display in the museum that was once her “Secret Annexe”.

With summer upon us, it’s a great time to pick up Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl and share it with our older children. It’s also the perfect time to give them the gift of their own diary or journal and to encourage them to share what’s on their mind. Anne once wrote, “And therefore I am grateful to God for giving me this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me.” Her gift continues to inspire others.

--written by blogger, Lisa Hendey (June 2009)

Imagination Theater and the El Dorado Arts Council (EDAC) will host a preview of selected scenes, Friday, June 11 at the EDAC Art Space at 459 Main Street, Placerville. In addition, Debora Larry-Kearney will lead a journaling workshop on Saturday, July 10 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the EDAC Art Space. Participants can then see the show that afternoon. Limited space is available for the journaling workshop. Please contact them at 530-295-3496.