Sad Books Say So Much

She was spoiled, whiny, arrogant, rude - yet she lives on in the hearta of millions.  Why does the tragic story of Anne Frank so deeply affect us?  Because we know how difficult it is to be young, yearning to grow up and make our own decisions, but lacking the experience and judgment to acknowledge all that we do not know and understand.  And then, to be at the mercy of the cruelest tyrants that history has ever known, fearing that with every strange noise, death and destruction are knocking on the door.  How did she take the emotional and physical suffering of captivity with such grace?  How did she write so eloquently about horrors beyond anyone's imagination - and yet manage to find entertainment and even humour in a daily life that was so crippling?  We can only wonder at such bravado.

Anne has left us an enduring legacy.  We must do as she did - find the good in everyone and everything, even if it seems oh so distant.  Most of all, we must never forget the atrocities she and so many others endured, and we owe a duty - to Anne and to them all - to fight tyrants wherever their iron fists may thunder down on their innocent, defenseless people.  "Near, far, wherever (they) are..."