Anniversary Sensitivity

Eleven years ago today, an unspeakable tragedy occurred in New York City, Washington, DC, and a field in Pennsylvania. The shock and sadness of that day still reverberates from those communities to the rest of the country and around the world.

For people who have experienced trauma, anniversaries can be difficult days. Often, the marking of the anniversary of a tragic event in a person's life can trigger uncontrollable feelings and emotional reactions to seemly "normal" moments and situations.

September 11th is an anniversary that we who experienced that day and the challenging months and years that followed all share. We should speak softly and calmly about this day with others to avoid triggering difficult issues for family, friends and colleagues who may not have addressed or recovered from this public traumatic experience.

Beyond 9/11, we should always try to be sensitive to others every day. We don't know everyone's history and what traumatic experiences they may carry. Paying attention to verbal and nonverbal cues during conversations and interactions can help you navigate the waters of lived experience and avoid those triggers that can be so painful for trauma survivors.

What better way can we honor those who perished on this day eleven years ago than by being better, more sensitive people and helping others work through their trauma to become better, more whole people as well.

America the Beautiful

One of my favorite parts of the Super Bowl is the singing of the national anthem. Even though "The Star-Spangled Banner" is sung before all athletic events in the United States, when it is sung at the Super Bowl, it is taken to a new level. The result sounding more majestic and magnificant.

Since the September 11 attacks, a new song tradition was added to the Super Bowl. Before the singing national anthem, the song "America the Beautiful" is sung. This year's Super Bowl, country singers Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert sang it as a  beautiful duet.

If I had my way, "America the Beautiful" would be our national anthem. Where "The Star-Spangled Banner" celebrates America's faith, strength and bravery, "America the Beautiful" describes America's history and breadth.

In my humble opinion, "America the Beautiful" is a better representation of us. Not to mention, it is so much easier to sing.

In case you are not familiar with the lyrics of "America the Beautiful," here's a refresher. Sorry there isn't a bouncing ball for you to follow as you sing it to yourself.

"America the Beautiful"

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness

America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country lov'd,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

From the Kennedy Center Terrace

Have you seen the HBO documentary, Citizen USA: A 50-State Road Trip? Directed by Alexandra Pelosi, (daughter of House of Representative member Nancy Pelosi), the film travels across the U.S. to attend naturalization ceremonies in all 50 states and meets brand-new U.S. citizens to find out why they chose America as their home.

It's so moving to listen to each person's reason for coming to America and choosing to become a citizen. Many share their desire to enjoy America's vast opportunities, but some seek more basic needs -- the ability to walk safely in their neighborhoods; the opportunity for all of their children to receive an education; and/or the option to freely practice a religion or none-at-all.

Native-born Americans, separated from their immigrant roots by generations, may take these opportunities for granted. Living in the nation's capital, you need only look at this patriotic vista to be reminded of America's promise to become a "shining city on the hill," and fulfill the dreams of the tired, poor and "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" who begin new lives within its borders.

Patriotic Stop

Like yesterday's photo post, here is another perspective of the American flag on the AUSA Building for Memorial Day. I liked the juxtaposition of the stop sign with the American flag when I took this photo. The stop sign in this image is actually located across the street from the building.

The photograph represents how I would like people to treat federal holidays. Although these national observances give us days off from work, there is a higher purpose for day-long government and business closures. Holidays, such as Memorial Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day, offer us the opportunity to stop and reflect on the contributions and service of others who have helped shape our country and secure its future. We should all stop and reflect during these occasions on what it means to live in the United States and enjoy its many blessings.

Patriotic Window

As you might imagine, Washingtonians take federal holidays very seriously. When I lived in California, I don't recall building managers placing American flags on their property in observance of national occasions, like Memorial Day and Independence Day. While city governments decorated their streets and buildings in festive red, white and blue flags, streamers and bunting, private building management just did not seem to make a similar effort. In Washington, DC, this is not the case.

While walking around my neighborhood over Memorial Day weekend, there were American flags displayed all around town. In honor of every patriotic holiday, this large office building in the heart of North Arlington drapes a large flag -- at least three stories long -- down the front of the building. It can be seen for blocks when walking or driving on Clarendon or Wilson boulevards in the Court House area. On Sunday, the reflection of this flag could be seen in the window of one of its neighboring buildings creating a patriotic window. Even though it would have been easier to just photograph the large American flag hanging from the top of the AUSA Building, this composition offers viewers a glimpse of the flag through a more interesting filter.

Thank You Frank

Every May, we get a three-day weekend to spend enjoying the start of summer with our family and friends. In between trips and activities, we spend little time thinking about the real reason for Memorial Day. It is a day for Americans to reflect on the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have served our country and sacrificed their lives for our freedom and liberty.

I didn't know Elmo W. Snowden of Kentucky or Nicholas Lee Natzke of Wisconsin. Both are buried in Arlington National Cemetery and their tombstones appear in this photograph taken last Memorial Day weekend. I'm sure they were great service members who were dedicated to protecting our freedoms and borders. Besides their military service, Elmo and Nicholas were most likely someone's husband, father, brother, son, and/or friend.

While I do know much about Elmo or Nicholas, soon I'll personally know someone whose name will appear on a tombstone here in Arlington. Frank W. Beach, Jr. was a gentle, sweet man who worked in my apartment building at our front desk. He passed away last weekend at the age of 90 after suffering a stroke. A military veteran who served in World War II and the Korean War, he will soon rest at Arlington among the other distinguished Americans who are interred there. I loved Frank's kindness; he often buzzed the door open for me, especially when I had packages in hand, so I wouldn't have to juggle with my keys, and always greeted me with a hello, a smile and a wave.
 This Memorial Day, I've added a new name to my growing list of Americans I admire for their service and sacrifices for our country. Thanks Frank from a grateful nation. I'll miss seeing you, but look forward to visiting you at Arlington National Cemetery. Now that I've learned that you loved photography as much as I do (I'm sorry we didn't get to discuss this in person!), I promise to visit and photograph your final resting place and keep it here on this blog and in my heart always.

Flag In

For Memorial Day each year, thousands of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines gather at Arlington National Cemetery to place an American flag at every grave. Several days before Memorial Day weekend, more than 265,000 miniature flags are placed exactly one boot length away from each headstone as part of this "Flag In" tribute.

Last year, I visited Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day weekend. During my walk, it was so moving to see rows and rows of American flags. Whether these flags were placed in front of a tombstone of a fallen service member, a distinguished veteran or a sacrificing family member of someone in the armed services, the Flag In is a simple, beautiful tradition honoring these heroic Americans on Memorial Day.

Raising the Flag

Recently, the last surviving American World War I veteran passed away at the age of 110. Frank Buckles of West Virginia lied about his age to join the army at age 16 and served as an ambulance driver in WWI with nearly 5 million American service members in 1917 and 1918. As if one war experience in a lifetime was not enough, Buckles was captured by the Japanese as a civilian in the Philippines during World War II.

Whenever I look upon military memorials like the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, I pause and think of Buckles and all our war veterans and thank them for their service and sacrifices.

Iwo Jima in Silhouette

Sometimes, it's the small victories in life that can be the most rewarding. For example, I love photographing the Marine Corps War Memorial or Iwo Jima in Arlington, but haven't been successful at getting a good image with the American flag unfurled until last year. Either there was too much wind or no wind at all that foiled my earlier attempts. As this photograph proves, persistence combined with patience can pay off. If the flag was blowing to the right of the flag pole, it would have mimicked the famous Joe Rosenthal photograph which inspired the memorial in the first place. Hopefully during my next visit to the memorial, I'll get lucky and take that image next.