[ITSUPTOU2]

Hello fellow Americans:
I'm sure everyone knows it's one month later ...it's been a month since the worst thing that has ever happened to our country and it's people happened at approximatley 8:47 a.m. I went out to get milk this morning and turned on the radio and listening to someone talking in an up beat way about how the city is different....nothing heavy....just how there are new permanent street signs now directing emmergency vehicles to the downtown area but at that moment I started to cry and felt sadder this morning that I had all month. It is a beautiful day this morning just like Tuesday 9/11. I started teaching my religion class yesterday afternoon ...I was a sub last year and really liked it I was VERY nervous at the beginning of the class they are very mature 5th graders! I didn't know how to start so I just asked the class WHO has been affected by the WTC attacks show me by a sign of hands....every child in that class raised their hands and didn't stop talking about it for 25 mins or utill I had to stop them..they ALL knew someone who had died or nearly did.....they had frightening "inside" stories I never heard. I asked who thinks about it every day and more than half raised their hands ....There are 12 kids in the class. They said they don't talk about it in school anymore ....just among their friends...the teacher won't talk about it out loud to them they said. Their parents are not keeping the TV on anymore....It was sad how affected these kids are and how much they carry inside of them. I incorporated Jesus, God and prayer into the talk but I am going to continue talking about it with them until someone gets mad... I don't care. It was really surprising to see just how much these kids were so emotional and upset by it even a month later! I pesonally wish for teachers and parents not to sweep this one under the rug ...this is just too big for people so little to handle alone or "get over" any time soon. M from NY

[Audreyjean]

Oh Margo,
Isn't it so amazing how our little ones remain affected. Last night my 4 1/2 year old daughter came up to me crying. I asked here what was wrong and she said she felt so sad for all of the people in the buildings where the airplanes crashed. That so touched my heart. I started to cry. My TV was on non-stop that first day and the next. I then decided to not dwell on the negative. I turn on the news at news time but am not addicted to the coverage as some have become. The tenderness of FaithElaine overwhelms me. She will just come up to me and say, " just prayed for those people whose families died in the airplanes and buildings".
My prayer is that my daughter's heart will always remain this tender. But those lessons in love and compassion must start in my home and be seen at work in our own family and in our dealings with others. There was a suicide in my family this year. It showed me how quickly things can change. How we need to say NOW that we love someone, need to do NOW those nice acts of kindness we've meant to do, need to TODAY put off selfishness and think about the needs of others.
As much as we need to get back to 'normal' I hope that America never does in the sense that, let's go back to a time when the pace was slower, when neighbors knew and looked out for each other, where courtesy was commonplace, where people where given the benefit of the doubt and where the Word of God could be boldly proclaimed and used as the basis of how lives are lived.

I don't want to ever be the same. I am determined to show more love and kindness wherever I go. I don't know the answers to all of the big uglies out there. I just know that I can live my life for Jesus, raise my children the same way and I truly believe that the world can be made a better place one good choice at a time.

Love and Blessings-
Audrey

[ITSUPTOU2]

Dearest Audrey:
Your feelings and sentiments were exactly what I felt a week or so after the 11th. It meant so much to me to read your words and remember how important these virtues were to me.. I totally agree with your thoughts about how we need to slow down really slow down .and remember what really IS important...and that is ..our God and our family....we have spun out of control a bit in this country esp. on this east coast but people deep down are so good and loving and giving...there's just not always an opportunity to express this side. or not a safe place....there was a moment tho back last month when we really were all of us ...at our best and I miss that. Marg

[fiddlestix]

I think alot of us are still at our best---yeah, the city feels different & I feel it will never be the same, how could it? Sure, some people are grumpy & as mindless as they were before, but so many more people are kinder, more compassionate than I ever saw before my 39th birthday (9/11).

[ITSUPTOU2]

Hi Fiddlestix:
Happy birthday.....oye boy what a birthday for you? I am sooo happy to hear that you noticed people are kinder than they were before the 9/11...and I agree...I guess when people get back to business as usual I interpret it the wrong way. Especially my line of work ...selling real estate ...those Realtors seemed to bounce back a little too quickly and were cold calling people on 9/12 to see if they want to sell there houses now.....it was sickening and I can't go back to that office after seeing that.