Well put classmate and friend. God bless us all. Love, Kay ----- Original Message ----- From: Carolyn McDaniel Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2001 11:35 AM To: AMXROADS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [AMXROADS] American Crossroads Dear Cousins, I was not quite a year old when Pearl Harbor was attacked. So, even though I have some memories of WWII -- The Big One -- especially the loss of my uncle (to a kamakazi attack on his Liberty ship in the Pacific,) I have no memories of anything that compares to what has happened to our country and the spirit of our people this week. Loss is the cornerstone of emotional growth and change. It shoves us into maturity. Yesterday as television returned to regular broadcasts I watched several shows -- Oprah had Dr. Phil and the First Lady Laura Bush, and I always enjoy Judge Judy! I couldn't watch the silly sit-coms, even though I felt I needed some relief from the heavy heartedness I feel. I watched an interview with the wife and father of another of the heroes who turned the tables on the hijackers on the fourth plane. Later, I couldn't sleep -- haven't been sleeping well this week -- and so I watched Jay Leno and then Conan. I was interested in what they would say and do on their shows. Surprisingly, it was their "comedy" shows that for me, enunciated the national sense of loss. Both were visibly shaken and grieving, and humble. Both presented shows that departed from their regular format. Both had "serious" guests and did programs reflecting their feelings and their attitudes toward this horror. Both affirmed their faith in something beyond themselves. Both were trying to find new means of expression. How do we do the same? Simply, I think we must do the same. We must reach out to one another as they have done, and try to focus on the Good/ the Godliness in all of us, rather than focusing on sin and evil, or simple Differences Try to do something that improves us, helps us grow, and which extends our loving attitudes toward our fellow human beings. The primary thing is setting the example for our children -- all of "our" children -- our diverse American children As we heal and grow, we must all especially be aware of our responsibility to help our nation's children. They are our immortality, our legacy of what it means to be humane human beings and what it means to be Americans. We have have profound lessons ourselves in the last week, and we must take from the heroism and sacrifice of this past week to become living examples to the children. How do we help one another? We need to touch, and to get in touch with one another. We need to communicate our hopes and fears and love for one another. Try to do something artistic, for beauty helps heal, as we have seen and felt in the music, and displays of the flag this week. Try to do something creative, for creativity, of the heart and soul and mind as well as of the hand, is the antheisis and antidote to loss and destruction. Write your feelings. Write your thoughts for our children, write for the heroes, the victims, and their loved ones. It is a wonderful thing, and enduring. Paint a picture, sing a song or tell a story that reminds you of a loved one. Reach out with heart and hand. It is so much better to light a candle than curse the darkness. I am so proud of what I have done to create American Crossroads, and to have attracted such wonderful people to this List, with big hearts and big minds. This week, sadly, has brought to the forefront what I've been hoping to create and present. We certainly are at another Crossroads. I have never thought of the List and Site as a simple, one dimensional (usual) presentation. It has always been meant as a multi-faceted community/congregation of humane, connected people who share a great commonality through history. As a wise and wonderful African-American woman told me once, "You're not for everyone!" amd American Crossroads is a true reflection of the same make-up. We're not for rigid, small-minded people with small hearts, souls and ideas. Bigots. Watching Bill Moyers interview Robert Jay Litton on PBS this week, I learned a new word: protean. Although our specific focus is research, it is our big, vast, broad, common -- protean -- American history and heritage that will help us overcome our loss, and help us grow, and help get us through this. God Bless America. Thanks for each of you. Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn Carolyn McDaniel cmacdee@teleport.com ========================================= --- Visit American Crossroads --- http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads ============================== Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp