Today is a new day, time to make a new start

Those words really stuck with me in my run today. The oversaturation of 9/11 coverage has left me somewhat numb. Like so many others, my heart broke that day as well; however, I fail to see how rolling around in the grief and anger then wrapping myself in a flag will make things better.

On 9/11/2002 I made my son's talit for his Bar Mitzvah. He had asked for a black, Jimmy Buffett talit. I found a rainbow of batik fabrics and worked in a piece of fabric I had saved for years from his first "big boy" quilt I had made for him. The rainbow was an echo of the first baby quilt I made for him. I spent the day watching MTV talking to teens about what they learned, how they had coped, where were they at after a year of change. On 9/11/2003 and every year since, I have given blood on this day. I would rather give life in honor of those who lost theirs on this day than wave a flag and scream "never forget."

Never forget what? The anger, the fear, the shock?

I said something to my boys that day, which started with, "I have to tell you something but I want to start by telling you Auntie Weasel and your cousin Randy are safe...." I then told them what happened and reminded them that the men who flew those airplanes into the towers were bad people. But just like the IRA bombers were a reflection of the people in Ireland, nor were these people a reflection of all the people from their faith and country. I still believe that.

This morning, the Dalai Lama posted these words to his face book page: "We need to learn from our painful memories of September 11th and become more aware of the destructive consequences that arise when we give in to feelings of hatred. This tragedy in particular has reinforced my belief that fostering a spirit of peaceful co-existence and mutual understanding among the world’s peoples and faith traditions is an urgent matter of importance to us all. We must therefore make every effort to ensure that our various faith traditions contribute to build a more caring, peaceful world."

He is right.

So today, I ran to my "Running Inspired" play list and did (w5+r5)3+w5 for just over 2.5 miles.

Now I'm going to go give blood before I celebrate my parents' 65th wedding anniversary. Go forward and live your life in peace and honor, not wallow, in the memories of those who fell today.