Friendly Visitor with a Holocaust Survivor

For several years, I volunteered as a Friendly Visitor, spending time each week with a member of the senior community. One of the people I had the privilege of getting to know was a Holocaust survivor who had spent two years in a Hungarian ghetto.

During our visits, I began noticing the significance she placed on things that were ordinary parts of my own life. She never wasted food. Something I might have regarded as commonplace carried a very different meaning for someone who had experienced deprivation and uncertainty firsthand.

Our time together made me think more deeply about gratitude and about how easily we can take everyday comforts for granted. Food, a safe home, the ability to make plans for tomorrow: things that can seem routine may feel sacred to someone who once lived without that security.

I began volunteering as a Friendly Visitor believing that I was giving someone else my time and companionship. I came to understand that the relationship worked in both directions. The stories, perspectives, and lessons shared with me were gifts in their own right.