Giving Thanks and Remembering 9/11

Remembering the tragedies of 9/11 never seems to get easier.  This day is a day that each of us remembers where we were, what we were doing and how we found out.  I often get emotionally torn.  A part of me wants to watch the memorial services and honor those who lost so much, but there is a selfish part that wants to stay as far away from memorials or stories about this sad day.

Last year, I discovered a website, My Good Deeds and loved all the ideas on how to make today mean something more than a day of sorrow.  The challenge also falls that those of us with small children who don’t remember or were not alive want to help their children understand today without terrifying them.  That is why one of my favorite “good deeds” is something simple…making a basket of goodies for your local police station and firefighters along with some homemade cards to say “thank you”.  This is a great way to get younger children involved without making the day a frightening day. 

The bigger hope is that all of our good deeds will go beyond today and that remembering the tragedy of 9/11 is about telling your family that you love them and sharing the good part of ourselves.  A quote from the founder of the My Good Deed website, David Paine, ““We need to rekindle the way we came together in the spirit of 9/11: It would be almost as much a tragedy to lose that lesson.”