A National Day of Service and Remembrance

Tonight, in response to a question, I tried to explain the significance of September 11th to my children. They are just six and four so there are many, many things about that day that I don’t want them to know about yet so my explanation was very brief.

Earlier in the day I had happened upon an old post by Tall Grass Worship. The post begins:

A couple of years ago we watched the excellent movie “United 93″. The movie takes place on September 11, 2001, and it’s director tried to stay as completely faithful to the events regarding that flight as possible, down to the exact words of the various passengers, as recorded or recollected by their relatives. As you may remember, United flight 93 was the airliner on which the passengers chose to attack the terrorists who had hijacked the plane, resulting in it crashing in a field in Pennsylvania rather than into Washington, D.C.

One of the most memorable scenes in the movie involved a very young woman calling home on her cell phone. She had just comprehended that the plane was destined to crash, one way or another, and that she was facing certain death. At her parent’s home, her stepmother answered the phone. The young woman, in a panicked voice, explained to her stepmother the circumstances she was in. The older woman had already seen news coverage of the other three planes crashing, and quickly understood the situation. She drew a deep breath, and, in the calmest of voices, began to guide the younger woman through her final moments. They expressed their love for each other. Then, the stepmother, seeking to calm the panicked girl, said something like,”I have my arms around you. Do you feel them?” With that, the demeanor of the younger woman changed. She relaxed. “Yes, I feel them,” she replied.

I sobbed as I thought about all the people who have missed the hugs of their friends and family members over the last eight years.

Later in the day I read Honoring the Dead by Serving the Living, which talks about the work two of those people have done since that day. In order to ensure that the memory of all those lost that day is truly honored, Jay Winuk and David Paine founded MyGoodDeed, which is now known as 911DayOfService.org. Their mission is:

to honor the victims of 9/11 and those who rose to service in response to the attacks by encouraging all Americans and others throughout the world to pledge to voluntarily perform at least one good deed, or another service activity on 9/11 each year. In this way we hope to create a lasting and forward-looking legacy — annually rekindling the spirit of service, tolerance, and compassion that unified America and the world in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Now I know how I can better explain the significance of September 11th to my children. The response people around the world had after the attacks, and can continue today, is the main lesson I learned from September 11th and is the lesson I will teach them. Sometimes it is just hard to remember through the sadness so I am deeply appreciative of the reminder from  Mr. Paine and Mr. Winuk.

Please join us, and many others, in engaging in a charitable activity in honor of all who were killed and injured on September 11, 2001. If you need help thinking of ideas or want to share your family’s plans, you can do so at 911DayOfService.org.