Page 9 - The Clare Connection_Spring 2018 Flipbook

SPRING 2018 9
Adina Sella and her daughter
In each phase, with each obstacle,
Adina found a way to overcome,
whether by sheer luck, cleverness or
connections.
“I always had to reshape something
to achieve parity,” she says. “I was
thrown into situations, and I had to
survive again and again.”
Survival within Herself
From the day her daughter was born
until she graduated from high school,
Adina went to therapy to work through
her childhood trauma and learn how
to better handle her emotions. A
therapist in New York City who she
saw for seven years made the biggest
difference.
This therapist was a survivor of the
Holocaust, and she had a daughter
about the same age as Adina.
“Because her daughter was my
age and they went through what I
went through – maybe less than me,
because they managed to come here
earlier – I think she was even more
dedicated to helping me learn how life
is done,” she says.
During that time, Adina began to
understand why certain things
provoked a sense of anxiety for her.
She became more adaptive. She
began to mend her fractured soul.
“I was able to think through things
without immediately feeling like I have
to survive,” Adina says.
And so, this is the story Adina has
shared as a volunteer at the Illinois
Holocaust Museum and across various
media platforms. It is one that may
differ slightly from others who lived
through the Holocaust. Adina’s is a
story that applies universally and
encompasses any child in distress
who struggles to form solid coping Adina Sella as an officer of the Israeli army
mechanisms and habits.
at The Clare, where she thrives thanks
“It’s important for people to to laughter, care and relaxation.
understand that childhood is not just
there to annoy parents,” Adina says. “What saved me in my life was my
“It’s a lab to become a competent ability to laugh,” Adina says. “That I
member of society, to be able to brought with me to The Clare.”
function.” And while the Holocaust will
Now, Adina and her unique story always mark Adina’s childhood and
of survival are immortalized in a development, it no longer holds her
new interactive exhibition at the hostage.
Illinois Holocaust Museum, in which “You can heal,” she says. “You have
visitors can speak with holograms of to decide you don’t want to suffer so
survivors. Her survival also continues much.”
Adina Sella and her husband, Michael