Choose Joy!

17 years.

It's been 17 years since 9/11.  And the world has changed in ways that I never thought it would.

Over the years I've read so many 9/11 reflections from others-- what they were doing that morning, how they felt, how they reacted.  So many were tinged with despair-- how they lost hope and lived in a cloud of darkness for days, weeks, even months.  I wasn't one of those.  17 years ago I was waiting impatiently for my first child to make her appearance.  I had started maternity leave-- 9/11 was my due date.

As horrific as the day was, as shocking and frightening and soul-freezing as it was to watch the towers come down, to see the images of the Pentagon and wonder if Abby had been at work and if she was OK, I never got caught in the wave of despair.  Less than a week later I was holding my newborn baby girl in my arms, experiencing a love and joy I had never, ever felt before.

We live in a world with terrible, awful things that happen.  It's easy to go "wo is me" when we look around at it.  Horrible tragedies like 9/11 shake our very foundations.  But-- there is still joy, if we look for it.  There is still love.  There is still beauty.

I'm not saying we should ignore tragedy or injustice or evil.  But I do feel that in these days of instantaneous, constant, polarizing attention on the bleak things of life, sometimes we forget the joy.  Even in tragedy, there is light.  Search for it, reach for it, grasp it and hold on tightly.

And go forward with hope!