A few days after September 11, 2001, a stranger walked up to me on a sidewalk in my then-hometown of Truckee, California, placed her hand on my nine-months pregnant belly and said, “I’m so sorry. It must be such an awful time to be having a baby.” I don’t recall if I was more shocked or angry but I know that I pushed her hand away, looked into her worried eyes, and did not hesitate in replying, absolutely not. In fact it is quite the opposite. “There could not be a better time to be pregnant,” I replied confidently. As this little life that would become my son was growing inside of me, I felt hopeful, inspired, and so very blessed. I continued:
“For with each new life, every new child that comes into this world, there is a chance for that being to bring forth more peace, love, light, hope, and joy – and the world needs that now more than ever.”
A common source of hope.
It was a disturbing moment, a personal and dark invasion of my space during a most intimate time. And yet it was nothing in the scope of what the victims of 9/11 experienced; what their families and friends experienced; what they continue to experience today. I was one of the lucky ones. I imagine though, that many moms who gave birth in the moments and months toward the end of that year of 2001 had similar experiences and feelings. I hope they felt the same way I did. And I hope that all of those children have brought as much joy into their lives as my son has brought into mine.
Connected in grief.
The atrocity and loss of that day changed the course of many lives. Indeed it changed the course of history. What seems almost crazier to me now than what happened that day twenty years ago, is how far apart our Country has grown in the time since then.
“What seems almost crazier to me now than what happened that day twenty years ago, is how far apart our Country has grown in the time since then.”
That year we came together across party lines, reached out to neighbors we hadn’t known beforehand, and perhaps didn’t even really like. But we were united as Americans. We remembered the power and value of the word united. The United States. We were united in our grief, our fear, our disbelief…and our hope and faith in one another as fellow citizens of this great experiment we call democracy.
Time to join forces.
Today though, fear and greed and an epidemic of misinformation across “news” sites is breeding an environment that is setting us up for yet more despair, anger, violence, and grief. As I reflect back upon 9/11 of 2001 and consider 9/11 of 2021, I pray we find ways to join together in our common humanity, recognizing that across the vast diversity of cultures, countries, counties, colors, religions, sizes, shapes, races, sexual orientations, and the full breadth of human background, we all want and need the same: love, food, water, shelter, meaningful relationships, fulfilling livelihoods. How we get there is where we differ. I am inspired to find ways to journey side by side, sharing, collaborating, respecting. Our planet depends on it. Our children and grandchildren depend on it. Together we can do it.
