Tuesday's Children

One thing that maintains my optimism that in spite of all that happens from day to day if we leave we warring adults out of it, the future looks bright.

It has become something of a Friday night ritual in our Friday pre-dinner tv watching to switch between Keith Olbermann's "Worst Persons in the World" segment and NBC's "Making a Difference." It often presents the very best and the very worst of what's out there.

Last night was no exception. The "Making a Difference" segment was on Tuesday's Children.


Each member lost a parent in 9/11. They're mostly teens now. The memories of their Moms or Dads are still fresh. So is the fact that innumerable people came forward to help them in their time of need. When a project to help build houses for those who lost so much in New Orleans became available to them the openings were filled before the announcement was barely finished. Why? They talked of how it kept the memories of their parents with them, how proud they would have been, how some would have so enjoyed being there working along side them.

The saying "how quickly one forgets" does not apply to these youngsters. They remember how devastated they were and how much the support they received meant to them. They wanted to make that feeling available to others who, too, had suffered.

These kids are in part the children of the 9/11 wives so castigated by the likes of Ann Coulter. If anyone has it right, they do.