It touched me this morning as I did Calendar activities with my first graders that they were all only one year old or less five years ago and have no memory of what happened.
Their parents most likely have no memory of the Space Shuttle disaster, Nixon resigning, November 23, 1963, or have a clue who Alan Shepherd or John Glenn are.
Their grandparents might know something. Bush is trying to reassure us that things are better and safe. As I struggle to teach my firstgraders that anger and destruction never make anything better, his words are hard to listen to. I wonder if he remembers what his first grade teacher said to him about problem -solving.
It rained all day off and on. I ran all day all the hours. Tomorrow is promising to be the same. I'm running faster and the time is going faster and things don't seem that far away in terms of five years ago. Or eighteen years ago on my mother's last birthday.
Clouds of war he says. Peace and prosperity. This won't happen until we remember the things we learned in first grade about kindness and compassion.
