for today
i shall not dwell on small things
on things that will not matter in 10, 20 or 30 years
but on life
on glorious, precious, gift from the universe... life
on sept 11th 2001
8 years ago today
we learned that we can never take a single day of our life
for granted
because it can end in the blink of an eye
for today i am thinking of un-sung heroes
people like Jeff David
who while the crowds of people ran screaming uptown away from the burning world trade center
he ran downtown from his safe home in the west village
to ground zero
and
when the towers fell
he, a civilian, an actor and voice-over artist,
pulled up his sleeves and joined the bucket brigade
digging out, and passing down dirt, rubble and sometimes
parts of people
i don't know this because jeff called me bragging about his heroism
i know only because well after his heroism
he mentioned it, only after i asked where he was that terrible day
i think of the many, many, people i met at ground zero
who just found their way there
the young Indian man who wandered into the dust to try and help
and with nothing else to do, handed out donated socks for weeks on end
the local security guards who ran to the pile every day
just to give cold gatorade to the firemen digging through the smoldering
debree in search, always in search of a miracle
when i think of 911 today
i don't dwell on the sadness, the loss, the horror
but on the kindness, the heroism, the love
that strangers gave to each other
i often wonder
who would i be today
if this terrible day had not happened
and while i wish with all my heart
that i could go back and erase
the pain, loss, death and insanity of that day
i do not want to give back the
kindness and the humanity
it brought out in me and in so many millions of others
so for today
i chose to honor the lost lives
of 911
by sharing goodness
kindness and love
and ask
that you consider doing the same
we are all in this together
