I was raised in a family that wasn 't too religious with my father being from a Catholic family and my mother belonging to a Jewish family. My parents were married by both a Priest and a Rabbi which living in Brooklyn, New York wasn 't considered too uncommon.
By the time my brother and I were born my parents had moved to upstate New York and chose to raise my bother I and to respect both faiths, but for the most part we were raised Jewish even though they didn 't push us in one direction or the other, they wanted it to be our choice which faith we instinctively felt that we belong to.
Looking back I remember traveling to my mothers parents house in Brooklyn and spending a lot of time with her side of the family. Every year her family would gather at a hotel upstate for a reunion.
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As a child I remember hearing a story about a family member who was Holocaust survivor, but at the time I was young and still finding myself. I didn 't know what questions ask or how to approach the subject.
It wasn 't until I had the opportunity to interview Masha Pearl Executive Director of The Blue Card 's which is an organization that helps needy aging Holocaust survivors with direct financial assistance and hearing her story in addition to learning about her organization did it start a conversation in which I learned about my own family history and its connection with the Holocaust.
What amazed me the most is according to The Blue Card "There are approximately 100,000 Holocaust survivors, one third of which live at, or below the poverty