Have you ever cried in a museum? What was the art museum? Was it a van Gogh?

[happybird]

35. Not an art exhibit, but yes.

When I was in high school, we’d go to DC on field trips a several times a year to see plays or visit an museum having an exhibit relevant to what we were studying. Back then, after we saw what we went downtown to see, they’d set us loose on the city and tell us where and what time to meet to bus to go back home.

A group of my friends and I happened upon an exhibit of items left at the Vietnam Wall. Park rangers collect the items and store them in a warehouse. There were notes, toys, photos, packs of cigarettes, drawings, favorite snacks, knickknacks, crafts made by children, the list goes on and on. There were so many different items left in remembrance of fallen friends, army buddies, and family members. The letters describing how life was going, about the kids and their interests and how much they had grown were particularly gutting. Updates for the dead. Even as a dumb 16 year old it affected me deeply. I cried like a baby.

The Holocaust Museum was another absolute heartbreaker. I would start crying out of the blue for months after our visit.