Well, Lisa from Hot Springs AK has her mission today.  It is her son Caton’s birthday.  And she and we her far flung friends are celebrating the date for/with him.  Caton’s is no longer with us as he was taken by an aggressive cancer not long ago.   Annie and I met Lisa about this time last year in Hot Springs at their film festival.

Lisa drove us from Hot Springs to Little Rock to the airport on our way out.  We all had that hour together and it seems we put it to good use.  Caton’s was still alive and in various care facilities at that point.  Medical science was doing everything that they could.  Lisa was working all day and with him all night.  She was impressively strong.

I am clinging to the celebration of Caton’s birthday as a sign of hope even in disaster.  Yes he suffered.  Yes he died to young.  Maybe a thousand other yeses.  What do we do with all that?  Can that be overcome, reconciled?  I don’t know unless we can grasp onto the idea that there is a bigger picture.  This is all a challenge and a lesson, a hurt and a reminder.  We really have to stretch ourselves to get anywhere with this, to get beyond the pain.

Somehow this is a little microcosm of the pain that our nation and the civilized world felt on this date in 2001.  An unbelievable event had taken place.  And what do we do with that?  We are still trying to get a grip on it, at least I am.  Maybe Lisa is way ahead of us on this account.  She is striving to put the sad energy to good use.  Bless you Lisa and your family and friends in on this.

What do we do with this day?  Love you, Felipe.x