The human is writing this one, since tonight on our neighborhood dog walk, there was a little sidewalk chart spelling session. The joy of growing up in a world where school is closed, likely for the rest of the year, means the sidewalks have become the new message boards.
What was written on the sidewalk in bright pink chalk?
HOPE!
Why is this important? Watching TV right now with the crazy ticker or reading the newspapers on your iPad or if you can still get a printed version can really bring out the despair that the whole world is feeling. Every news outlet keeps counting the confirmed Covid-19 cases around the world and tries to predict what the trend will be 10 days from now. The news of what is going on in the world really paints a dark picture.
Hop in the time machine and go back to September 11, 2001. Do you remember where you were when the first plane hit the first tower? I remember being at the gym before work listening to the Howard Stern Show when Gary came running in to tell Howard that a plane ran into the World Trade Center. I never made it in the office that day as Pittsburgh’s big buildings started dismissing employees as the plane that crashed in Shanksville was flying around from Cleveland. It really became a moment where you wondered what other unknown might happen, since an attack of this sort never could have been predicted. The dark weeks after the attacks on the PEOPLE of the US and really the World was one full of despair for humanity. While the impact was felt by the airlines, NYC and Washington DC, the hope of this nation and ultimately the whole world definitely suffered a giant blow. The same tickers were running day and night as the body counts were reported from the World Trade Center. The biggest issue right now is that we don’t have an immediate fallout, however this silent challenge that has led to the country on lockdown can definitely be one where hope may seem lost.
This is why I point to September 24, 2003. Hope definitely returned to New York City. The city was able recover it’s magic, despite still figuring out how to rebuild the physical damage from just two years earlier. I joined 120,000 other humans on the Central Park Great Lawn for an evening of song and dance to celebrate HOPE and the Human Spirit. Mayor Mike introduced the band that night and the New York City Police provided a very organized way to get in the park and stay in manageable sections. The funniest thing looking back is that because I did the trip without my Dave wife, the trip out was on Greyhound with the return on Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian.
Oh regarding that magical night under the stars in Central Park: Crazy little Stop Now What’s that Sound during Jimi Thing.
Yes, it was another Dave Matthews Band concert that was anything but just another concert. Between the helicopters hovering all around the park to capture the night, the people and eventually the evening finishing fireworks.
There is something about a whole lawn dancing and singing “LOVE/Baby” during Granny that makes you realize anything can be possible when we all put love first. It could be a guide when it comes to making decisions or asking your neighbor if they need anything. This truly is the challenge right now. We all are living in this time of uncertainty, we all however can continue to put our humanity first.
Hope! Love! and remembering that we all live in this one sweet world is key to taking the one day at a time approach to this obstacle to our health, economy and way of life that most of us have known.
