Requiem

There will, undoubtedly, be a great deal written and said today about the events 6 years ago. And plenty of it will political, from both sides of the fence. It always bothers me that in the debates about these national tragedies and the name calling and the blame laying, that we always seem to lose sight of the simple acts of kindness done by everyday people.

There is a grass roots movement on the rise in America to turn 9/11 into a day of good deeds. I like that. I wish more people just did it because it is the right thing to do and that it didn't take tragedies like Katrina, The Tsunami, or 9/11 to bring it about...but I will take what I can get. Here is an bit of the article on this movie (full text available here.)

"The idea of turning 9/11 into a day of service, charity, and good deeds came from the family and friends of one man: Glenn Winuk, a volunteer fireman and lawyer who worked a block and a half from the World Trade Center. After he helped evacuate his Broadway law offices, he grabbed a medic's bag and ran toward the smoke pouring from the South Tower. That's where his remains were found after the towers fell. Mr. Paine and Glenn's brother Jay had been friends for years. They decided that turning 9/11 into a day of service was best way to memorialize Glenn.
"It completely reflects the way my brother lived his life, and it also specifically reflects how he died," says Mr. Winuk, MyGoodDeed co founder. "He laid his life on the line for other people that day."

In 2002, Paine and Winuk sent e-mails to friends and family and suggested they do a good deed, such as donate a day's pay on 9/11. Then the idea evolved, and they founded myGoodDeed.org. In 2004, 100,000 visited their website and pledged to do a good deed on 9/11. This year, those pledging number more than 250,000.
"A lot of people don't know what to do on 9/11," says Paine. "This hits people in their heart and their soul. It connects with something that's fundamental."

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Peace out