Hope

We shall never forget

We shall keep this day,

We shall keep the events and the tears

In our minds, our memory and our hearts

and take them with us as we carry on.

It's 7 o'clock a.m. and my alarm clock (also known as my little prince) has gone off. Peeling myself off my pillow, my feet hit the ground running. Brush teeth, change diaper, feed dog, feed cats, coffee (ahh, much better), put in a load of laundry....I am chasing down the morning.

I stop and take a deep breath.

I feel a heaviness today. The weight of my memories of this day ten years ago pull on my heart. I didn't work at the World Trade Center. I do not have a story of narrow escape. I was not one of the heroes of that day. I was working blocks away from the World Trade Center.

I felt the shudder of the falling buildings. I watched the clouds of dust and smoke snake through the streets carrying with it the fear that cloaked the city for weeks and months after September 11. I rode the crowded trains watching as co-workers helped co-workers with a place to stay. There were suitcases and pillows stuffed around the train as residents fled to safer grounds. Strangers offered a helping hand. We were all cramped but no one complained. Even as we left the city, a trail of sorrow and tears followed us. That sorrow rang out across the world.

The next day the streets in midtown were empty.  Few people returned to work and the tourists had deserted the streets. Times Square looked like a empty stage set. The city was a shell of itself.

Its' heartbeat was snuffed but not extinguished. In a city were you walk with direct purpose and keep your head down, people began making eye contact with each other. A simple glance created an invisible connection, each person pouring hope into each other's eyes.

So it is with this memory of hope that I keep close to me.
I hope for peace.
I hope for the end of war.
I hope for people to accept each other all over the world.
I hope for a brighter future for my son.

In searching for solace, a new song called "Strong" by Jensen Keets touched a sacred spot in my soul. It is complex and enchanting. It gave me fierce chills of empowerment.  Just as my eyes were swelling up with tears, her chorus, "Rise above, rise above" starts just in time to rescue me from the sting. The song could not be more aptly named.  I want to follow her voice to the light of hope for a stronger city and peaceful world.


See the video here: "Strong" or Buy the album on iTunes.com

Jensen Keets Homepage

Jensen Keets debut album