Last night my 10 year old son woke up and called me into his room. "I can't go back to sleep," he said, "I can't get it out of my head." I lay next to him and realized how hard it was for him to process all of this stuff when it is as hard as it is for me, as old and experienced as I am. When I saw Palestinian adults giving candy to children in celebration, I wanted to retaliate. When an Syrian-American student came to me upset because some moron called her racial epithets and blamed her 'cousins' for the attack, I wanted to find the jerk and retaliate. I have never been here before....just as my parents had never experienced Pearl Harbor before, just as I had no reference when in 9th grade someone shouted down the hall of my high school that Kennedy had been shot. I try to keep my head about me, my spiritual side focused, listen to my heart. I'll ride my bike home from work today like I did yesterday, pedalling like there's no tomorrow.
Art Smith
somber and sober in Phoenix È