The Child of Phoenicia (Patreon)

I heard about this incredible story the same day we shot this series with my dear friend Elia in Lebanon.

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It's the story of a woman who joins the Resistance with her lover in 1941 and was arrested with him in 1943.
The same year she was transferred to Frontstalag 122.
He found himself shot down in Angers.
After being deported to the Ravensbrück camp in 1944 then tortured by a Gestapo agent, French collaborator naturalized German, she was finally released in 1945 and left for Switzerland where she met her husband.
In 1962 her executioner was found hiding near Lille.
When his trial began in Paris in 1965 this woman sent a letter to the president of the court.
And as no one could be surprised, he was sentenced to death this very year.
In 1966 our heroine sent another letter to General De Gaulle asking him to have mercy on her oppressor and spare him the capital punishment.
A month later he was pardoned and was sentenced to a lifetime sentence.
Then begins a correspondence between victim and oppressor.
An oppressor who was released for good behavior in 1984 and died 25 years later at the age of 89.
She will join the Angels in 2020 at the age of 101.
Her name is Noëlla Rouget.
The subject of this story is obvious.
It's about forgiveness.
I met people who told me that there were things it was better to forget.
This is called living in denial and I have never heard a story with a happy ending in this case, just as I have never met anyone who in denial exhibited a sanity of spirit.
They always end up living in another reality, causing those around them and themselves to suffer.
Forgive yes, not forget.
To forgive is to make peace with the past.
Resentment keeps you in the past.
Living in past trauma causes you to be anxious and fear the future. Your mind projects, anticipates, because it has lost confidence.
It stops you from living in the present.
To forgive isn't to free our oppressors from their responsibilities, but to free ourselves from toxic emotions that chain us.
Being a slave to resentment, like being slave to anything, will only retain what is best in you to express.
Move forward to make room for the best.
Perhaps, write a letter.
You don't have to send it but at least it will put into words how you feel and that's the first step towards healing.
Happy full moon my Dearest Patreons.

Forever grateful for your support <3