September 11, 2016

(As promised, here is the more important of my blog entries today.)

I just got done watching two 9/11 videos.  For years now, I have been watching "Heaven 9/11," which is a little girl talking to her father who died on 9/11.  (Does not specify how.)  She's always been talking as though a year had passed; this year, someone updated the video for five years out, ten years out--that got me crying.

A custom I added in recent years (starting just a year or two ago) is to also watch one--and only one, because I am super sensitive and nothing's going to change that--video of actual news footage from that day.  The video I chose today was really long, and I almost quit in the middle several times.  In the end, however, I made it through.  I am tremendously proud of myself for that.

Part of what helped me make it through was holding a teddy bear; I am not ashamed to admit that holding a doll or stuffed animal helps me through things.  All my dolls etc. have assigned ages; this bear, Theodora, is the only one old enough to watch news clips with me.

I believe in the power of spontaneous prayer; I believe God hears when we cry out; what came to my lips today--and yes, I said it aloud, if only in a whisper--was "God be with their parents; God be with their siblings; God be with their children."

So may it be.