Who-ville

"That's a noise," grinned the Grinch,
"That I simply must hear!"
So he paused. And the Grinch put a hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow...

But the sound wasn't sad!
Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn't be so!
But it WAS merry! VERY!

He stared down at Who-ville!
The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook!
What he saw was a shocking surprise!

Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming!
IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!

I woke up this morning dreaming. Dreaming of The Grinch and a little town called Who-ville. Somehow the analogy just seemed right.

I am old enough, just smart enough and truly cynical enough to not buy into jingoism and patriotism on a crass commercial basis, but I am still young enough, just smart enough and innocent enough to believe that America is something special.

We all need to take this time to mourn and share our collective loss but we must also remember the only way to not let our Grinch win is to sing the joy of the society we have created and the wonders that are available to us in this society.

This tragedy is so global in scope that the only way to truly understand the magnitude is to look at its very personal level. I know I was touched on various levels and I know I am not unique. There are many stories just like mine and I think we should sing them loud.

My sister-in-law who lives next door to my wife and me is a flight attendant for American Airlines stationed out of Boston. She took Flight 11 out of Boston to LA on Monday only after she was unable to make the switch to Tuesday’s flight because no one wanted to switch. The plane she was scheduled to come home on Tuesday was most likely the plane that was flight 11 on Tuesday.

I was sent home from work early yesterday and like many of you, I spent most of the day glued to the TV screen trying to understand the impossible. Late in the Afternoon, I could take no more so I took my dog for a walk. I met a neighbor on the walk who asked about my sister-in-law. He then asked if I had heard any information about the workers who were around the World Trade Center. I told him it did not sound good for them and I then went along with my work and then stopped suddenly when I remembered he had a nephew who was a NYC police officer and the concern on his face made more sense.

I then took my dog to the local park where he plays with his dog friends and I get to know more and more of my neighbors. Each and every person at the park was touched on a personal level. Many knew people who worked at the WTC other knew people at the Pentagon. Everyone had that mixed looked of disbelief, sorrow but also the joy that we are alive.

I then went home to hear my wife on the phone trying to console her sister 3000 miles away because of the loss of friends on the flight crew, the joy of being alive and the guilt that will affect her for the rest of her life.

I told my wife the same thing, I tell all of you. Sing out and Sing out loud. Do not let the bastards win. Show the world you can destroy our national symbols, you can take some of our lives, you can affect our daily lives but you can never destroy America.

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"