I can't sleep. Although, I'm staying at Mount Zion, a beautiful boutique hotel in Jerusalem, I just can't sleep. Being at the Holocaust Memorial at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem earlier yesterday really struck an emotional chord deep inside of me.
Seeing Schindler's List and all the names of all the people affected by that terrible tragedy (some of my friends' families included) really hurt.
As I read the stories of the people who were affected by the Holocaust, I burst into tears and couldn't stop. Why would anyone want to tear something so sacred as family apart? Only a deranged psychopath followed by mindless peons who don't think about the consequences of their actions. This must never happen again.
I really miss my family. It's been a while since we've all been together. I remember the date of our last reunion: it was the week of September 1st, 2012 when we were in Manila, Philippines for my grandmother's 75th birthday last year. Here's a video that I made while I was there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZvPMVq5yyA
My family is scattered all over the globe. Although I am always traveling, I am primarily based out of New York City where my younger sister also lives. My mother is in the Philippines with my grandmother and her family. My father, half-sister and half-brother and their families are in Thailand. My uncle is in Amsterdam. I love traveling and visiting all of them in their respective places but in a time of tragedy, I wish I could just go down the street and give each one of them a hug. Right now, I am traveling through Israel while my family in the Philippines is going through Typhoon Haiyan.
I am worried about them. I love them so much and I wish I could run over and hold my mother in my arms and tell her that everything will be all right.
