Bringing Stories to Life

In the morning of December 15, it was a pleasure for Rita Benn to engage in writing practice with 14 members of Detroit's 2G group known as C.H.A.I.M. Participants included those who were brand new to crafting their parents' story into a cohesive narrative to others who had more formal training and functioned as volunteer guest speakers for the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Michigan. Irrespective of the level of experience, most attendees had not deeply contemplated how the Holocuast shaped aspects and events in their own lives. Participants commented on how grateful they were to have the opportunity to respond to prompts that invited this exploration. Several planned to enliven their speaking stories with this new approach, and a few hoped to continue to develop full length memoirs.