In fifteen days, people will be remembering September 11, 2001. It was the year that pushed Americans out of their comfort zone. Yes! There was pain and suffering but there was also more love than any other time I knew in my lifetime. The people were bonded in faith, hope, and charity giving to New Yorkers and to each other what they needed most when hearts were broken. It was a time when police, fire departments, hospitals, and first responders were revered for loving and caring for those impacted the most by the Towers. As years went by, we heard about many good stories coming out of the ashes.
There was a beautiful paragraph written in The Guardian about Detective Amadeo Pulley of the NYPD Arsons & Explosives' Squad:
"Amid the horror, there were moments of surreal beauty. 'One day, we were right in the centre of the pile, and suddenly all these butterflies appeared from the debris. Monarch butterflies. They were everywhere. Everyone stopped and just looked at this cloud of butterflies. It was, like, even in the midst of all this, life goes on.'
A story like this may be difficult for some to believe, but I believe it is true because I witnessed something similar in Galveston, TX when I walked through the neighborhoods of trees that were devasted on September 13, 2008 by Hurricane Ike followed by artists flocking to Galveston to sculpt the remainder of cut down trees who carved beautiful works of art, such as dolphins, mermaids, The Tin Man, dogs, and other wonderful creations shortly thereafter. There, I saw so many Monarch butterflies in people's gardens. It was surreal and all I kept thinking of was how wonderful butterflies are as part of creation and how lucky we are to have talented artists. Do we think butterflies have short lives? Is that true? Or do they have a greater purpose than we think?
Perhaps, Mother Teresa's pondering was the greatest truth of all?
Love is the net by which you catch souls.
Story and photographs taken in Galveston, TX by Patricia Feager
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