driving Alter home

today i got to spend time with 87 year old Holocaust survivor Alter Wiener.  a local speaker for the Oregon Holocaust Resource Center, Alter came to our school to present his story and book, "64735:  From a Name to a Number" to middle schoolers. for the last couple of years i have used portions of his YouTube videos and book during the 7th grade unit on Holocaust Literature but didn't dream i'd actually get to meet him.  not only that, but  through a turn of events, i was given the honor of driving him home to Hillsboro after the assembly.  after all that he has been through, from losing 123 members of his family to the Nazi regime and having all of his teeth kicked out by a guard, to working in 5 different camps and narrowly escaping the gas chambers himself, he tucked his small frame into the front seat of my car and said, "positivity.  life is all about positivity."  as he put his seatbelt on, i asked how he felt after his presentations.  "it's not easy emotionally or physically,"  he said, "you know, i've had some rounds of cancer, too.  i'm an 87 year old ordinary man who's had an extraordinary life experience.  are you a religious person?"  to which i answered, "i do believe in God and Love, if that's what you mean" and he said, "well, i'm still here, and it makes me wonder if He just wants me to keep telling my story.  my oncologist thinks i'm a miracle twice-over, for surviving the concentration camps and for still being alive without chemotherapy."  his mind is quick, no doubt from his avid reading of the New York Times and Scrabble playing.  he went on, and i soaked up every word, "have you read Victor Frankl's 'Man's Search for Meaning'? i myself have read it three times. Victor survived Auschwitz and the one thing they could not take away from any of us in the camps was right here" he said, pointing to his mind,  "here is our imagination, our memories, our perspective. we were able to still create meaning here, even though we lacked the means to enjoy life.  now when i look around society, i see how much people have, they have all the means, but they don't seem to enjoy it...everywhere is meaninglessness, depression and anxiety.  i think the key to a meaningful life is positivity and appreciation, being grateful for even the smallest things." i agreed and asked which exit to take from highway 26, "oh, don't worry," he said, "we're not going all the way to the beach" to which i said, "why not?!" and we both laughed.  i took his box of books and birthday cake (yesterday being his birthday we celebrated with him) into the first floor apartment where he showed me a boquet of flowers, "from the father of a girl who said my story saved her life" and then motioned me toward a photo of him taken while he was a prisoner.  "i look at this photo every day.  and every day i am grateful.  when i look up at the shower head and the water comes out hot i am grateful.  do you play Scrabble?"  to which i said, "you just may have yourself a new Scrabble partner." i shook his hand, "i'll leave you to rest now, thank you so much for sharing your life with us."  "we will see each other again.  have a life filled with meaning and beauty" he closed.  I couldn't help thinking it was more of a blessing than a goodbye.  for more about Alter, please visit www.alterwiener.com.