Lily's thoughts before meeting Renee Firestone

As much as there is some information about Renee Firestone as a wonderful woman and as a survivor, I wanted to share my experience... Before we had the opportunity to meet with her last Thursday, March 18th, I was anxious to meet her, however I didn't REALLY know what to expect. It was obvious to me that hearing ANY person talk about a subject that heavy would be tough to stomach for infinite reasons. My mind raced with thoughts on my drive to meet her. I didn't know how many relatives she lost, what she had to go through, and when it comes to the Holocaust the worst you can possibly imagine is usually pretty spot on. When i got to the museum I met Karen who was the only CSUN student there. I hadn't met her yet, so I was really excited to finally meet her after all of the emails we had been rallying back and forth about setting this date up. We anxiously waited for Alyssa and Darrell to come meet us so we could tour the Museum of Tolerance. We were finally all united and we started to glance around and see the museum (Which is an unbelievable museum and I highly recommend everyone go if they get the chance!). 2:15 struck and it was time to get seated to hear Renee's story. It was rather intimate, granted there were about 5-10 other people we did not know listening as well. 90% of the time that Renee was telling her stories, i had chills, not just because it was gut wrenching but because her stories were so vivid that it was easy for me to make detailed mental visuals. During the story I was mesmerized, although all I wanted to do was jump up and give her a hug and tell her how much I respect her and how much I value her existence. When she completed telling the story to us, we as the 4 group introduced ourselves and had some private time to ask her some personal questions. She was so happy to tell us everything and i cannot wait to go back and visit her again. This was hands down one of the most unbelievable experiences of my entire life. Renee Firestone is truly a hero and a remarkable woman for being as strong as she is. After our encounter with Renee, and after touring the museum, I was driving home and literally felt like the luckiest most fortunate person in the world. I felt like I didn't have a worry in the world and I looked at humankind in a different light. Hearing her story was an entirely eye-opening experience. Aside from how inspirational Renee's story was, the museum made me re-think different prejudices people have towards one another and made me want to be a better person on so many different levels. This journey we are on is definitely life changing and has made me more excited to go visit Poland in June and learn more about the Holocaust, where it took place, why it happened, why it was able to occur for so long, how Hitler was able to maintain the amount of control he did, and the different ways that 6 million Jews were massacred.