Museum of Tolerance

Mike and I want to be the type of parents that teach our kids beyond what they could find in a book. The world is their classroom where they can learn, love, and grow themselves. 

So I took this opportunity on our way to disneyland to stop and stand witness to the San Bernandino shooting. There's no nice sugar coated way to say it. 14 people died and 21 people seriously injured. 2 people caused the nation to hurt for why? I don't know....Intolerance. Hatred. Miscommunication. All things that my kids never witness outside our little utah home. Don't get me wrong my kids are not dealing with adult issues but I wanted to show them that this evil that once killed a perfectly innocent being thousands of years ago still walks this earth today. That we, they, each one of us need to be the change so the hurt can stop. 

As we stood there looking at the 14 stockings, the candles, balloons, all the signs, while Mike read aloud the stories of each person who died that day. I was in tears. My kids were in tears. Mike was choked up while he read. Our hearts ached for these people. We folded our arms and Mason said the most sweetest prayer I ever heard. 

This experience opened the door for our family to further expand this lesson by attending the Museum of Tolerance. 

This L.A. Museum is one of my favorite. I feel like I have a spiritual connection to the stories of the Holocaust; I just can't find the link yet. 

Here we learned about the intolerance and hatred to the Jew's. The crimes against innocent people who did nothing to deserve this treatment.

When we had to walk the tunnel to either a work camp or the gas chamber Mike, mason, Hailey, and I teared up. They couldn't understand why anyone would do this. 

Lily kept saying they should have fought. And maybe they should have. But then again my Lily is one tough cookie. 

While we were at the museum we had the chance to hear Harry David tell his story . He was one of the babies smuggled out and put into hiding with another family. His parents were killed when sent to a concentration camp. He told everyone in the theater about how smugglers used the code word "tea" for blonde haired kids and "coffee" for darker hair kids to those who places the kids. So the smuggler would say," prepare for your shipment of tea" and that person knew to prepare for a blonde child. It's amazing to hear him speak!

When we entered the museum each family member got a child's name whom we carried with us along the tour. Along the way we would learn about "ourselves" and what happened to us. After each exhibit each one of us hoped and prayed even harder that the name we came out alive; that that little child survived. Out of the 6 of us 4 survived. 

Mike tells me as we walked back to the car that I know how to start off a vacation. With everyone in tears. 

After thinking about it. Yup I do. I seized the opportunity to teach my kids, my husband and myself about the history that is repeating itself. My kids gained a further understanding that God made us all different and that's a perfect plan. Mike told me later that night that he was always for keeping our troops here in America. For the US to mind our own business and worry about our nations problems first. But after seeing how so many Jews looked for refuge from England, USA, and other countries and no one wanted to butt in; this just lead to more deaths. He's proud that America is looked at as a big brother. That we help everyone so things like this don't happen again. 

I'll say it again. Yup I know how to start family vacations off.