Remembering And Honoring

In Which We Pause

 

Pause for September 11

Don’t say – remember.

Some of our remembers

are complicated

by what was happening to us

and some of us do not remember

because we are too young.

Pause for September 11.

Don’t say – pray.

Some of us want to pray

about the fires ravaging the west,

the terrible losses

of the coronavirus pandemic,

and some want to assign God

a personal agenda

of the first two amendments,

immigration, or masks.

Pause for September 11.

Don’t say – be a patriot.

That has too many meanings,

mostly full of

this-is-the-right-way

and the rest of you are wrong

and can also be confused

with a football team, TV show,

or surface-to-air missile.

Just pause for September 11.

In 2001 particular people died.

People who helped continue to die.

People died in acts

of response or retaliation.

People who live still grieve.

People who live

try to make the world better

because of that day.

Pause.

-Rev. Maren Tirabassi

{This Moment} Honoring...

{This Moment} A weekend ritual. A single photo -no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.....

Remembering...

I will never forget how blue the sky was that day. It was easily the most gorgeous blue sky I had ever witnessed (then and still).

Eighteen years ago I was teaching at The New England Center for Children. As I drove from my apartment in Belmont to the school in Southborough I remember think that it was the most gorgeous day ever and that I was looking forward to the end of the school day so that I could spend the rest of it outside enjoying what (at that point) felt like the most beautiful day ever.

I was teaching when the new came. A quiet knock came on our door. I think it was from our team supervisor, Nicole, telling us that something had happend in NYC. Since we had a TV in our room we quickly switched it on to see what was happening. We were all in shock as we stared at the images unfolding on the screen. Surely, this had to be some movie stunt gone wrong? But no, that was not the case at all. Even before NECC decied to send everyone home early that day (something that was unheard of) parents had started calling to say they would be coming to pick up their child. Many had ties to NYC (or worked in NYC or flew regularly on those two planes) and felt as if they needed to circle the wagons up and be with their families in that moment. A feeling we all shared.

It was a traffic free ride down the Pike back home to Belmont that day. It was eerily quiet. I called my mom from the car and she said to me, "You really shouldn't be driving and talking on the phone to which I replied, "No worries, mom, I am on the only one on the road." The quiet remained for the rest of the day and all through the night (and for several days and nights thereafter). The only noise being that of an occasional fighter jet flying overhead (patrolling from Hanscom AFB).

And yet, here we are, eighteen years later, able to remember everything about that day as if it just happend. Including the gorgeous blue color of the sky....

Remember

On this day, seventeen Septembers later, we continue to remember, honor, mourn, and grieve. xo 

{This Moment} On September 11th

{This Moment} A weekend ritual. A single photo -no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same leave a link to your moment in the comments section for all to find and see. My apologies for being rather late with this weeks moment. Somehow Friday and Saturday slipped by before I realized I hadn't shared our moment! We wish you all a lovely Sunday! xo 

Remember, Honor,

Fifteen Septembers

On this day, fifteen Septembers later, we remember, we honor, we mourn and we grieve. xo

We Remember

Sunday. 7:45am.

There are no words to adequately express what it was like to be at the 9/11 Memorial on Sunday so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. xo

September 11th

Last year it was decided that we'd make treats to bring to the first responders in our town on September 11th. It felt like a good way to give back to men and women who, though perhaps not there in NYC on September 11, 2001, put their lives on the line for us each and every day. Last night, as we tucked the girls in bed we asked them what we should do for a September 11th service project. "Let's bake treats for the Firemen and Police!" they replied. And so we did. Cookies were baked, decorated and delivered (along with notes of thanks) and the events of this day thirteen years ago were quietly reflected on by their Papa and I.

Today- and always- we wish the world peace. To those who are grieving today please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you. xo

National Day Of Service And Remembrance

 Yesterday was the National Day of Service and Remembrance. The girls and I chatted over breakfast about what we could do for our "good deed". I told them a little bit about September 11th and the helpers that were present that day and they decided that we should bake something yummy to take to the fire department and police department in our town. 

One quick trip to the store,and some coloring pages printed from online, and our service project was ready to go. 

We decided to wait until David got home to deliver the brownies so that he could be part of the project too. 

It was the perfect way to spend our September 11th. Taking a day that was so horrific and doing something good with it is just what is needed. Such a simple project and yet one that brought so much joy to all involved. The fire department and police department were both surprised and honored to receive homemade treats and cards. I imagine those brownies didn't last long!

Community Service Learning is such a very a powerful thing and something that I am happy is a such major part of our family and how we roll. I love that giving back is second nature to the girls. I love how all they need to hear is that there is a need somewhere and they come up with a way to fill it. I love that they will grow up using this day to serve and give back. It is my hope that they never know first hand anything like the events of that awful day all those years ago; but if they do I know in my heart that these two sweet souls will surely roll up their sleeves and find a way to Do Good. 

Wordless Wednesday::In Remembrance

The One Less Traveled By

My sincere apologies that the next few pictures are so out of focus.  Sometimes even my super fabulous camera can't keep up with how fast kids move!

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

-Robert Frost     

 

Today was an absolutely beautiful September day.  The kind of day that one needs to spend as much time outside basking in as humanly possible.  As soon as I woke up I knew that this was the kind of day that would be perfect for some apple picking, and so in chatting with my lovely friend Eileen that is exactly what we set out to do.  We arrived at the orchard with all intentions of doing just that until it was noticed that there was a hedge maze that needed to be explored.  We all agreed that we could surely pick apples another time but that we must absolutely go in the hedge maze this time.  Apples were purchased in the store (along with cider and donuts, too, of course) and then the animals and pumpkins were visited before we headed over to the maze. 

 

Once inside I realized how truly symbolic this is of the life we lead.  Everyone needs trusted companions on whatever journey they are on but this is especially true for those of us on the much less traveled path of unschooling.  As we wandered through the twists and turns of the maze, listening to the girls giggle and run and problem solve, and as we chatted about things important to mamas, it was then that I couldn't help but feel the symbolism of this maze deep within my soul.  You hit dead ends, turn around, and start again. You take a wrong turn and have to start over.  And then somewhere along the way you turn the correct way and end up back on course to reach your destination.  If you can laugh (as we did) through it all it makes the wrong turns and dead ends that much less frustrating.  If you can lean on each other, work together to solve a problem or figure the way out then it makes those time of uncertainty that much more easy to endure.  And, as we all learned today, you always, always always go back in for the one that has been left behind (or in the case of a certain sweet, blonde four and a half year old girl, the one who runs back in to do it all again when it's time to go).  Having friends, especially kindred spirits to lean on, to take this journey with, to encourage you and you them, to share wisdom with, to ask questions of, to get support from, to laugh with, to cry with, to cheer each other on, who just plain "get it" is truly essential. 

 

And on this day.  On this somber September 11th day, I couldn't help but reflect on how different my life is than it was eleven years ago.  Friends have come and gone, babies have been born, people have died, marriages have begun and some have ended, but the one thing I know for sure is that love and peace are essential. We will always be faced with problems, with dead ends and twists and turns that could not be foreseen.  We will always have times of happiness and sadness.  Times of certainty and uncertainty.  It's what we do with those times and who we surround ourselves with that truly matter. 

 

It's amazing what a little bit of time spent in a maze can do.