In the spring of 1940, Nazis had invaded France. The genocide began in October. Madame LeTevere is a blonde haired, blue eyed woman, she had been married to a man who was a French soldier. He was killed and, she was now alone with her children. Madame LeTevere began to watch her four children play outside. It was a lovely fall day in Paris.
The Nazis had begun rounding up Jews and sending them to concentration camps, since their arrival earlier in the year.
Madame LeTevere screamed. Nazis soldiers were barging through her front door, demanding that everyone in the house to come outside. Her children were torn from her by the terrorizing Nazi soldiers. She watched in horror as her children were screaming for her, and she was unable to help them. One Nazi soldier had a gun pointed at her head, while the others dragged them off with other Jews they had captured.
She had little love left in her heart. She became very bitter over the loss of her children. She was confused at why the Jews were treated so badly by Nazis. She wondered why they had to take her children and hadn’t taken her. Madame LeTevere had heard that Jews were being taken and interrogated.
Many Jews suddenly disappeared. They were sent to concentration camps and it was rumored that many were being killed. Madame LeTevere’s children:Jean Pierre, Anne Marie, Jacques Paul, and Elise were no longer alive. They had been killed in the gas chamber at Auschwitz.
Feeling abandoned by the death of her children, and wanting justice for what the Nazis had done, she turned to her brother who worked for the United States and begged him for help.
Her brother, John, could see that she was struggling with life. He agreed to help her. He taught her that she must forgive if she wants to live, and move on with her life.
They began to create a set of memorial chairs. Four of them would stand for her children. The fifth chair would stand for her brother, who helped her find peace within herself. A sixth chair was to represent her husband, who was lost in the war. The final chair was her own.
These seven chairs were brought to the church to remind people about the tragedy, and to honor those who were lost.
Every week on Saturday, she visited the seven Chairs. Astonishingly, one afternoon the fifth chair spoke with wisdom to Madame LeTevere.
The chair said, “Stop weeping”. Live your life to honor your children, and don't let what we suffered be in vain.”
In that instant she looked up to see a ghostly figure. The figure happened to be her brother. Suddenly she did not feel all alone. Madame LeTevere’s brother asked her to sit in the chair. When she sat down, the chair began to rise into the air. Suddenly, she felt herself take her brother’s place. Now she was the one who was literally transparent, and was now a ghostly figure. Madame LeTevere began to cry.
As she wept, she opened her eyes, now astonished to see that it was all a dream. She was shocked and baffled, but yet happy, that she could change the outcome of damage to herself and others. She looked at her children, who were healthy and alive, as well as her brother, husband and knew that it was just a dream. Now happy, she vowed to treat every day like it was her last, because life is precious. Once it is taken from you, you can never go back
