Monday, September 11, 2006
The Drive
My 25 minute commute each morning is my time to wake up fully, get my head together, think about any unresolved issues, and plan out my day. I often have the radio on, volume turned down, to hear any morning news or find out about traffic issues.
As I cruised historic Route 66 this morning I heard coverage of the ceremony at Ground Zero this morning. I listened to the mayor's brief welcome and then a woman reading a poem to her deceased husband. Then they started reading names, a survivor reading the name of their family member. I heard the solemn toll of the bell and my radio crackled lightly during the moment of silence.
I thought about the people reading those names. I wondered how they must have felt this morning. It had to be so difficult, yet somehow affirming to return to that place this fall morning. Half of the bodies from this attack were never recovered in any form. For family members this must be where they feel close to those they lost. They were here.
I've always been a very emotional person, though I spent much of my life trying to hide that fact. I felt a wave of sadness and empathy wash over me as I made my way through the traffic. The woman who drove by me in the Cadillac....was she listening to the same thing I was? I looked up into the bright blue morning sky as I drove and I said a silent prayer for those families. I didn't feel the tears on my face until the first one reached my chin. I didn't wipe them off. I drove silently to work, alone in my thoughts.
I pulled up into the school parking lot, dabbed my face off with a napkin, and got out of my car. There were some boys standing outside tossing a football around. Suddenly the ball was arching across the parking lot headed right for me. "Heads up Mr. S", a boy yelled. I caught the ball and looked back at several smiling faces. I tossed the ball back and walked inside the building, immediately greeted by several students and staff members.
I thought to myself about the problems and challenges we face in this school and in my own life. But whatever those challenges are, we are here and have the opportunity to conquer them. Those people whose names I heard being read don't have that chance. We best honor them by making our own worlds better places.
With that thought I smiled, unlocked my office door, and went to work.
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As I cruised historic Route 66 this morning I heard coverage of the ceremony at Ground Zero this morning. I listened to the mayor's brief welcome and then a woman reading a poem to her deceased husband. Then they started reading names, a survivor reading the name of their family member. I heard the solemn toll of the bell and my radio crackled lightly during the moment of silence.
I thought about the people reading those names. I wondered how they must have felt this morning. It had to be so difficult, yet somehow affirming to return to that place this fall morning. Half of the bodies from this attack were never recovered in any form. For family members this must be where they feel close to those they lost. They were here.
I've always been a very emotional person, though I spent much of my life trying to hide that fact. I felt a wave of sadness and empathy wash over me as I made my way through the traffic. The woman who drove by me in the Cadillac....was she listening to the same thing I was? I looked up into the bright blue morning sky as I drove and I said a silent prayer for those families. I didn't feel the tears on my face until the first one reached my chin. I didn't wipe them off. I drove silently to work, alone in my thoughts.
I pulled up into the school parking lot, dabbed my face off with a napkin, and got out of my car. There were some boys standing outside tossing a football around. Suddenly the ball was arching across the parking lot headed right for me. "Heads up Mr. S", a boy yelled. I caught the ball and looked back at several smiling faces. I tossed the ball back and walked inside the building, immediately greeted by several students and staff members.
I thought to myself about the problems and challenges we face in this school and in my own life. But whatever those challenges are, we are here and have the opportunity to conquer them. Those people whose names I heard being read don't have that chance. We best honor them by making our own worlds better places.
With that thought I smiled, unlocked my office door, and went to work.
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