Dear Anne Frank....it is no longer a secret.

Dear Anne Frank, 

This morning when I woke up and as I waited for my coffee to finish perking, I broke down in tears. Sobbed. It was not from depression or even because I have to keep facing more and more health discoveries - something hit me. It was the deep ache of realization the every one of us has protected pure evil at some point in our lives. It eats away at our soul, our core, our heart, and our empathy and consideration for others. 

It's truly sick and twisted - 

I've been guilty of protecting evil's secrets and I am sure others were harmed from it - actually I am positive. It started when I was a child. I was taught to hide secrets so others wouldn't judge our family for worse  -so I did. 

I kept secrets of the traumatized adults surrounding me. Secrets that no child should ever be taught to keep - a slow and tortuous demise of Spirit residing within creating a shame I had to own on my own and one I didn't ask for - it belonged to the people who harmed, greatly harmed others, including other children, within and known by my family. 

It hits me hard - like this morning.  The secrets I am talking about are not the ones people commit for basic survival in a cruel world - the ones I am talking about surround the cruelty that is empowered by the pain of silence, the kind that ends up killing another person's spirit, figuratively and spiritually.  

It's a scary world out there, Anne, as you know - but please know that those words you wrote down, those conversations with yourself, provides light for some of us - hope - love - that we are not alone and that has always been the truth. We just need to find one another before it is too late. 

It's President's Day today in our country. I think I will honor the people today, the ones buried by the secrets others created to silence the innocent because the secret holders haven't found the courage and strength to stand in the light.  

Coffee, Anne, I need coffee..

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Image above by Willgard Krause from Pixabay