Skip to main content

Belonging

By February 12, 2017December 6th, 2023Advocate, ePatient, Family man, Leader, Written Only
Spread the love

“Home is a notion that only nations of the homeless fully appreciate and only the uprooted comprehend.” ― Wallace StegnerAngle of Repose

“I rest in ease, knowing there are others out there, whispering themselves to sleep, just like me.” ― Charlotte Eriksson

I am the son of Holocaust survivors.   My mother was a German Jew, a refugee in Netherlands spending her teen years in hiding, then a refugee in the United States. Her family had means and connections.  My father’s father was a survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and a refugee in Switzerland, then the United States. He had means and connections.  They were both welcomed into this country.

I am a straight white American man living in Boston with my immediate family nearby. I have everything I want and need. I am safe. I am cared for. I can’t conceive of the lives of today’s 65 million refugees.  What I heard about my ancestors’ experiences are not comparable to today’s refugees. Belonging is fundamental to anyone’s health and well-being. My parents worked so hard to belong. My bones know that I belong. By example, they taught me to stand welcoming at the threshold – any threshold. My children and siblings and their families stand welcoming at the threshold. We are all stronger and safer for it. #IamAMuslim.

5 Comments

  • Terri Hulse says:

    This is beautiful artwork, Danny. I am putting a google slide show together for my school on teaching value and purpose. Would you allow me to use “Belonging” in my presentation?

  • Anonymous says:

    Amen. Thanks for sharing Danny.

  • Sue says:

    Thank you Danny!

  • Anonymous says:

    Peace. Thanks for writing .

  • Bob Doherty says:

    Yours and many aware people’s understanding and connectedness will not be diminished by a popular movement that discredits and demeans compassion. We support each other – those we know and those we will come to know.
    Thanks for saying what you’re thinking in these challenging days when many seem willing to step away from freedom and life as we hope it will be for one and all.
    We all need to do that – out loud and proud, caring about life and its continuance.

Verified by MonsterInsights