I’m just back from our service event in Atlanta. This is one of 25 volunteer activities we had this week, as part of our month-long, 90-event Celebration of Service.
We’ve adopted a 20-acre park near downtown Atlanta for the year, and this was the third of four workdays we’ll have there. The neighborhood has been trying to transform this piece of wild woodlands into an accessible natural area for about 5 years, but was making slow progress. With 75 people working for four 6 hour projects, you can accomplish a huge amount of work.
I was a little cynical about creating a day of service around 9/11, but given the conversations this morning as we gathered at the park, it is clearly an appropriate way to commemorate the day. Each of us shared the story of where we were when the planes hit the towers - stories we would never forget. I recalled that I was in the hospital after having our second child the day before, and I”m always a bit sad that his birthday is linked in my mind to what happened during the first days of his life.
Given what was on everyone’s minds, thinking about it now, I believe it was a gift to be able to come together as a team and to work collectively to create something constructive for our neighbors to share. In a few hours, we saw the landscape transformed with trails, bridges and a new meadow where kids can run.
The day started with a slightly somber tone, but as we left, a little wet and muddy from occasional rain with sore hands and backs, our moods had lifted. I left with a changed point of view about the best way to spend a day associated with grief, and I hope that from now on, when asked about my son’s birthday, I’ll remember what happened the day after his 8th birthday as well as what happened on that day in 2001.
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What wonderful day! The cool weather was a benefit, too!