Heavy. Hearted.

My “second” Dad growing up was Jewish. He’s my dad’s best friend & “brother”. They served in the Air Force together, went to medical school together, and ended up in Fayetteville, NC together to practice and later partner up in business. Sid saved me one day when I was 6 and got lost on the school bus. My family had moved, and the bus passed my new drop-off because the driver was a substitute. I was the last one on the bus with another boy. I sat there crying and the boy said, “Hey bus driver this girl is crying”. The driver was dropping the boy off at an apartment complex and asked me for my address. I was 6 & we just moved – I didn’t know the new address. The driver said to me, “Stupid kid you don’t even know your address?” Through tears I looked out the window, and behind me was Sid’s van. Sid was moving from that apartment to a new home himself. I said, “That’s my dad’s friend” and the driver let me out and I hopped in Sid’s van, and he took me home. Side note – this was 1982. We all know what could have happened in 2023 in THAT scenario!

My husband is a home builder. He has built for several Jewish & Muslim families in the Durham area over the past ten years. One of his absolute favorite homeowners is Muslim. I’ve met Filza and her husband. My husband absolutely adores them, and says they are some of the kindest people he knows. She is a doctor and has referred patients to 180.

Being an American, mostly uneducated about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be confusing. I’ve been doing a deep dive on it the past few days. Admittedly, I’m still confused. But I assume we can all agree terrorism is horrific and that none of us can understand the absolute vile of decapitating babies or kidnapping kids and raping women. Terrorists like Hamas are pure evil that we cannot comprehend- no matter the nationality, religion, or political beliefs. People should be able to defend themselves against terrorists and seek to live a life of safety. Kids should be able to grow up healthy & safe.

Many of us have connections to or even friends & family on both sides of this conflict. It’s all such a travesty. I’m sure like myself, if you’re paying attention even just a little bit, you feel the heaviness. Your clients are feeling the heaviness too. I am praying for both the Jewish & Palestinian people trapped in this horrific trauma. Please take care of your own heaviness while you take care of others.