9/11

This week is The Jewish New Year and next weekend is Yom Kippor. The 10 days between the two observances are called The Days of Awe.   During these days we review our lives–mistakes and  successes—and pray for a sweet and healthy New Year.

The 9th anniversary of 9/11 in NYC falls in within these 10 days, which I find “awesome.”  Whatever your faith, this is a difficult day for all Americans. For me, I have mixed feelings because my grandson was born on 9/11 in 1991. So I want to celebrate his birthday and also honor those who were killed on this day.

I think the best way to honor the dead is to live your life fully and keep the people who died on 9/11 in your heart. This rhyme that I wrote for The Jewish New Year and 9/11 reflects my attitude/feeling about this.

Pick your personal way to observe tomorrow.  I plan to turn on the TV and listen to all the names being called. Hearing the names makes the people real. Just saying how many died is just a number. But listening to each name keeps it personal.

Photo of the ferry with the twin towers in the background.

 

Rhyme for The Jewish New Year & 9/11

I’ve been sewing for many years, stitching together love, pain & tears.
Now I quilt totes, using odds, ends for my bags.
Making an item from tiny scraps is like a metaphor for different “apps”:

One for loving
One for for pain
One for losing
One for gain
One for happiness
One for tears
One for surviving all these years,

Patching together the good & the bad; not always happy, not always sad.
Life’s a quilt of various parts, joining together many hearts.
Stitching together moments, days & years.
All mixed up with smiles & tears.

So honor the dead, but keep on living.
Mourn & grieve, but keep on giving.
Each day brings a brand new start.
So love and listen to the voices in your heart.

The USS New York, christened in 2008, is a memorial to September 11, 2001. The leading edge of the bow is made from salvaged steel girders from the ruins of The World Trade Center.