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Mar 15, 2022Liked by Lane Anderson, Irene Caselli

I can relate to this timely and helpful article as I have recently been to Sarajevo and the entire city speaks to you of the reality and tragedy of war. In addition to a War Childhood Museum, a model for the one in Ukraine, an association of parents have constructed a beautiful and moving monument to the children who were killed during the siege as artillery rained down upon the city from the surrounding mountains. Some say that children were deliberately targeted to teach their parents a lesson. The monument depicts a mother and child embracing; children's footprints can be seen in the waters of the fountain and included are 521 names of the 1500 children who were killed.

Also moving are the "Roses of Sarajevo," grenade impacts left in the streets that are now filled with red resin as a reminder. Each "rose" represents the loss of three or more lives.

On the news each evening as I watch the lines of Ukranian refugee children gripping their mother's hands and clutching their favorite soft toy to their chest I am hopeful that they are escaping the worst horrors yet worried for those left behind.

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Mar 13, 2022Liked by Lane Anderson, Irene Caselli

It is good to know about the museum and about the many voices sharing wisdom and guidance to help parents during these times of war and violence. And I understand the importance of a beloved object to give comfort. My black stuffed "horsey", 75 years old and threadbare, is still with me!

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Mar 4, 2022Liked by Lane Anderson, Irene Caselli

I just spent the day talking to 5th graders about the lives of kids in England in WWII, as I have done for many years. Could you Be A WWII Kid has a new resonance now. I grew up in 1970s Britain, among those former children of war, and during IRA bombing campaigns. I do think it's worth watching Hope and Glory, a movie for adults showing a British kid's perspective on the Blitz. A little old now, but hailed at the time. Children see things differently, and in many different ways.

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