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| Nov 26, 2007 8:05 pm |
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I Thought of Her and Realized Again How Fortunate We Really Are... |
Marilyn Jenett
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This Thanksgiving weekend as I was contemplating everything I had to feel grateful for, a woman I met a few years ago came to mind. Her story had a profound impact on me at that time and always “shocks” me into perspective whenever I think of her…
In 2003, I was contracted to book the first of many locations for my client, Campbell Soup, for their multi million dollar “Souper Star” promotions for children. The first location that I found and secured for them was the white Malibu estate.
The owner of the mansion was a woman named Punty Bogart. Punty was 80 years old. She was petite, energetic and very feisty. Her home was pristine and beautifully elegant in European style. She wasn’t the easiest person to deal with, but she did take a liking to me and she could be very charming.
One day I had to visit her to have her sign some paperwork. I noticed that she was limping, which I hadn’t seen her do before. I asked her if she had fallen. She replied in her European accent, “No darling, it’s from the concentration camp.”
Punty sat me down and told me a story that left me stunned.
When Punty was just 20 years old, she and her family were sent to a concentration camp. Well, that wasn’t so unusual. I had met and read about survivors of the Holocaust. But what she told me next was probably one of the most unusual accounts I could ever imagine. Punty was taken to the gas chamber with hundreds of other women. I sat motionless and tears welled up as she relived her experience. She said that the women were crying and screaming, “God, why have you done this to me?”
Punty was pulled from the gas chamber by guards because they needed someone to clean the toilets. It saved her life. You may meet people who have survived the camps. But you never meet anyone who survived the gas chamber.
She later met her husband, they came to America, went into business and created their wealth.
Her sporadic pain that caused the limp was a reminder of her past. She had many health ailments, which I understand is not uncommon to survivors of that time.
In my life, I have sometimes thought about what happened during the Holocaust and it's incomprehensible to me how something of that magnitude could have happened. It would stir very deep feelings in me and I don’t believe it is because I was born a Jew. It’s because I was born human. And I cannot fathom how that kind of inhumanity could take root and grow. At the hands of a madman, no less.
I may never be able to fathom it. But I will always be grateful that I was born in this time and in this country. It may not be perfect, but it’s a great deal closer to heaven than most other places…
And that’s a lot to be grateful for.
Thank you, Punty, for giving me such a great frame of gratitude reference.
~ Marilyn
Marilyn Jenett, Founder and Mentor, the Feel Free to Prosper Program
Website: http://www.FeelFreetoProsper.com
Ryze Network: http://prosper-network.ryze.com
Programs and Products: http://www.feelfreetoprosper.com/products.html
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