Sarah's Key

I recently finished an amazing book, "Sarah's Key" by a French author. I love the book. It was well written, it was intriguing, it had emotional elements,and they made a movie about it. My mom, one of my sisters, and I all went to see the movie. I still had about 60 pages left to read so my mom drove. I continued to "speed read" clear up until they turned off the lights in the theater and the previews for upcoming films were played. My mom even pulled out her cell phone to try and give me light!

The movie was great, and I finished the last several chapters after the show later that night. I would definitely recommend this book, but the main reason for the post are the feelings we get from our experiences. I didn't cry in the film, and I didn't cry while reading the book. However, while I was cleaning media this morning at work I came across a book called, "Unlikely Friendships" or something of that nature--and I can't blame any allergies on what became of my watery eyes.

So, there I was at 6:30 in the morning flipping through this animal book, looking at pictures and reading about the different friendships when I thought to myself, "This is ridiculous! Am I really about to let a tear drop over this book?!"

There were two pictures in particular that stood out. The one on the cover, the one that got me hooked, is of a pigeon and a baby monkey. And the other one, the picture that provoked these emotions was one of a dog and a piglet:

I think this one got me the most because I connected it to Sarah's Key. One of the worst and most sad parts of the book is when the soldiers separate the mother's and the children and one of the ways they try to calm the chaos is by telling the lie that no one should worry. That the mother's have to go to Auschwitz first and the children will come a few days later and be reunited.

Right away, Sarah seems to know this is a lie. She can't trust the soldiers. The chapter then goes on to describe all the crying children anywhere from a few months old to ten or eleven years old. Sarah, who is ten, tries to comfort some of the toddlers who feel abandoned, hungry, and have no idea what is going on besides the fact that they are alone and their mothers and fathers are no where to be found. After a few days some have already died. She sings to them, holds their hands, and hugs them. This is just a fraction of the book, one small chapter, but the most emotional for me.

The picture of the older dog comforting that tiny piglet in some way reminds me of that part in the book where some of the older kids tried to hold and comfort all those babies and toddlers who were ripped away from their mothers.

There's not much more I can say, besides the connection I made and how it nearly made me cry in the book section at Costco this morning. I think it's good to read about history tho, even if it makes us sad because we always need to remember where we came from, this world's past, and how we can move forward. It's a good look at the best and worst of human nature.