The Freedom Writers Diary - Erin Gruwell [99]
Later in the evening we walked from our hotel rooms to the theater to watch The Diary of Anne Frank starring Natalie Portman and Linda Lavin on Broadway. Everyone dressed up with nice dresses, slacks, and ties. The guys looked so handsome, and the girls beautiful as always. After the play Linda Lavin invited us to stay to meet all of the cast members, which made it even more meaningful.
Winning the spirit of Anne Frank Award and seeing the Broadway play made me realize what Anne meant when she wrote in her diary: “I want to go on living even after my death.”
Diary 118
Dear Diary,
Tomorrow, we are leaving New York to head home. In the last three days, I have seen places I never dreamed I’d see, and I have met people I never thought I would meet. A month ago I had no idea I would visit New York City! And now, here I am, staying in a huge Marriott, right in the middle of Times Square!
I’ve lost count of all of the places I have been. We have been all over the city, riding the subway and walking. We went to Rockefeller Center for the Spirit of Anne Frank Award ceremony, we toured Scholastic, Inc. We met the CEO, vice president, and some of the editors. We visited the Doubleday publishers. We saw a lot of the famous buildings, like the Chrysler Building, the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall…Tomorrow, we’re going to see the Statue of Liberty!
And the people we’ve met! Connie Chung, Linda Lavin, Gerald Levin, Peter Maass! I didn’t have a lot of experience with famous people before this trip and I didn’t know what to expect. These people don’t “need” anything from us. Still they took the time to speak to us, sit down and spend time getting to know us, letting us get to know them. They ate with us, laughed with us, cried with us. They gave us memories to last a lifetime.
Lots of people in powerful positions take advantage of those who aren’t. Unfortunately, my dad is one of them.
My father is an attorney who’s an expert at using the Big Lie to milk the system. When my parents were getting divorced my father decided he wanted my brother, sister, and me to live with him. None of us wanted to be around our father, let alone to live with him. The court appointed a group of psychologists to decide who we should live with. The chief psychologist had a limp handshake, and a weak laugh. This was the stranger who was to determine our fate. He claimed that my mother had brainwashed me into hating my father. The simple truth was that I hated him because he had a ruthless temper.
One weekend when my siblings and I were visiting my father, he flew into a treacherous rage. My father locked my brother in the backyard and left him there without food or water. Finally, at the end of the weekend, the time came for us to go home. My brother was incoherent with fear and hunger. He just wanted my mom to hug him close, while he wept. I told Mom that Dad had not fed him all weekend. I couldn’t find the courage to tell her the rest of the story.
Tragically, none of the psychologists understood the pain my father put us through. My brother and sister were ultimately forced to live with him. The court couldn’t see my father, with his “Good Old Boy” mask, as the evil person he was. He was willing to do anything to get what he wanted. He even bribed the psychologists for a recommendation in his favor.
My dad hasn’t changed over the years. He continues to say hurtful things to me. And even though I don’t live with