The Young Girl "

On a cold day in 1942,
inside a Nazi concentration camp,
a lone young boy looks
beyond the barbed wire
and sees a young girl pass by.
She too....
is moved by his presence.
In an effort to give expression
to her feelings,
she throws a red apple
over the fence
a sign of life....
hope, and love.
The young boy bends over,
picks up the apple.
A ray of light has pierced
......his darkness.

The following day,
thinking he is crazy
for even entertaining the notion
of seeing.....
this young girl again,
he looks out beyond the fence
......hoping.
On the other side
of the barbed wire,
the young girl yearns
to see again.....
this tragic figure
who moved her so.
She comes prepared
with apple in hand.
Despite another day
of wintry blizzards
and chilling air....
two hearts are warmed
once again as the apple passes
over the barbed wire.
The scene is repeated
for several days.

The two young spirits
on opposite sides
of the fence look forward
to seeing each other,
if only for a moment
and if only to
exchange a few words.
The interaction....
is always accompanied
by an exchange of
inexplicably heartening feelings.
At the last of
these momentary meetings,
the young boy greets
his sweet friend
with a frown and says,
"Tomorrow...
don't bring me an apple,
I will not be here.
They are sending me
to another camp."
The young boy walks away,
too heartbroken to look back.

From that day forward,
the calming image
of the sweet girl
would appear to him
in moments of anguish.
Her eyes.....
her words....
her thoughtfulness....
her red apple....
all were a recurring vision
that would break
his nighttime sweats.
His family died
in the war.
The life he had known
had all but vanished,
but this one memory
....remained alive
and gave him hope.

In 1957 in the United States,
two adults, both immigrants,
are set up on a blind date.
"And where were you during the war?"
Inquires the woman.
"I was in a concentration camp
....in Germany," the man replies.
"I remember.....
I used to throw apples
over the fence
to a boy...
who was in a concentration camp,"
...she recalls.
With a feeling of shock,
....the man speaks.
"And did that boy say
to you one day,
'Don't bring an apple anymore
because I am being sent
to another camp'?"
"Why, yes," she responds,
"but how could you
possibly know that?"
"He looks into her eyes and says,
"I was that young boy."
There is a brief silence,
and then he continues,
"I was separated...
from you then,
and I don't ever want
to be without you again.
Will you marry me?"
They embrace one another
as she says, "Yes."

On Valentine's Day 1996,
on national telecast
of the Oprah Winfrey show,
this same man....
affirmed his enduring love
to his wife of forty years.
"You fed me....
in the concentration camp, "
he said, " you fed me....
throughout all these years;
now, I remain hungry
if only for your love."

Comment:
The darkest moments
of one's life.....
may carry the seeds
....of the brightest tomorrow.

Never Give Up HOPE....