Choosing to Remember

William came home with homework today. It was English and he had to do an exercise where he had to brainstorm and write out words, quotes, images, anything that would make him think of CHOICE which was written in the center of the page encased in a bubble.

CHOICE. Choices. And so he began....decision, pick, "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country", "some men see things as they are and say why, I dream things that never were and ask why not", "to be or not to be", crossroads, belief, life, black or white, right or wrong, peace, war, love, hate, tolerance, acceptance, heart or brain, contemplation, trust, education, profession, arts, freedom, truth......and then he got overwhelmed, and decided to call it quits, another choice...consequences......

September 11,2001, I, like my fellow world citizens watched in horror as our beloved city was attacked. I could not breathe. All I could think about were the thousands of lives that were being destroyed at that precise moment. I watched the bodies sail through the bluest of skies in complete disbelief that this could actually be happening. No special effects, no movie script, no cut and scene. In between a sunrise and a sunset our country was undeniably altered in the most profound of ways. The violence, the violation, the inconceivable act of hate and destruction left so many of us aghast and silent. Shocking. Still, 8 years later, there is a part of me that remains silenced.

But then came the exercise in CHOICE. I can't help but think of all the choices made since that day that greatly affected the whole world. I think back to being told that choices made in desperation and in fear, never turn out well. I think of the state of this country, the trust put in our leaders, and mistrust we had in our security, in others, I think about the complete polar opposite states we lived in, defend freedom yet censor, be tolerant yet the beatings given out to anyone that was considered Muslim seemed daily for a while, return to work, to "normal" life and there was the color coded chart of alerts that we all had to live by. In NY, and I am sure the rest of the world, things were now defined by life before 9/11 and after 9/11....kind of like BC/ AD.......And it was understood that there had to be regulations, for our own safety it was critical, but somewhere the balance was lost.

I don't think we even begin to acknowledge the enormity of what occurred until we start really thinking about the consequences of our choices. I don't think we get to really grow as a nation until we start choosing to go beyond special interests and start really thinking about how we live our lives and how we treat each other, even beyond borders. I think if everything comes down to a choice...it can be built up by choice too. I remember a time when if anyone said anything remotely against President Bush, they were called unpatriotic, here, in this land of freedom of speech. Now if President Obama wants to talk to kids about the importance of education he is called a Nazi with a hidden agenda. Choice. We could choose to work towards recovery. We can choose to help our communities. We can choose to rise above our circumstance and teach our children perseverance. We can choose our battles and we can choose peace.
We can choose to be better. We can choose respect. We can choose education. We can choose health care for all. We can choose research, science, arts. We can choose kindness. We can choose tolerance. We can choose to open our minds a bit more. We can choose to think outside the box. We can choose to have faith. We can choose to hope. We can choose to reach out. We can choose to pay attention. We can choose to be present. We can choose to compromise. We can choose to listen. We can choose to stand up. We can choose to be world citizens, we can choose to be aware and involved American citizens. We can choose to be bipartisan. We can choose patience. We can choose to be accountable. We can choose peace. The choice is ours, on a daily basis, with every thought, with every action. But if it remains encased in a bubble, what happens when it pops?

What have we learned in 8 years? Gone but not forgotten? The lives that were lost that most harrowing of days are worth so much more than just that. How about honoring who we lost, what we lost, by attaching a positive word to choice and enacting it. The freedom to choose......the choice is yours........