Sakura's Journal

"I Had a Box of Colors" by Tal Sorek, Age 12, Beersheva, Israel

I had a box of colors

Shining, bright and bold.

I had a box of colors

Some warm, some very cold.

I had no red for the blood of wounds

I had no black for the orphan's grief.

I had no white for dead faces and hands.

I had no yellow for burning sands.

But I had orange for the joy of life.

And I had green for buds and nests.

I had blue for clear skies.

I had pink for dreams and rest.

I sat down and painted

Peace.

On Monday there were people fighting against praying in schools

On Tuesday you would have been hard pressed to find a school where someone was not praying

On Monday there were people were trying to separate each other by race, sex, color and creed

On Tuesday they were all holding hands

On Monday we thought that we were secure

On Tuesday we learned better

On Monday we were talking about heroes as being athletes

On Tuesday we relearned what hero meant

On Monday people went to work at the world trade centers as usual

On Tuesday they died

On Monday people were fighting the 10 commandments on government property

On Tuesday the same people all said 'God help us all' while thinking 'Thou shall not kill'

On Monday people argued with their kids about picking up their room

On Tuesday the same people could not get home fast enough to hug their kids

On Monday people picked up McDonalds for dinner

On Tuesday they stayed home

On Monday people were upset that their dry cleaning was not ready on time

On Tuesday they were lining up to give blood for the dying

On Monday politicians argued about budget surpluses

On Tuesday grief stricken they sang 'God Bless America'

On Monday we worried about the traffic and getting to work late

On Tuesday we worried about a plane crashing into your house or place of business

On Monday we were irritated that our rebate checks had not arrived

On Tuesday we saw people celebrating people dying in the USA

On Monday some children had solid families

On Tuesday they were orphans

On Monday the president was going to Florida to read to children

On Tuesday he returned to Washington to protect our children

On Monday we emailed jokes

On Tuesday we did not

It is sadly ironic how it takes horrific events to place things into perspective, but it has.  The lessons learned this week, the things we have taken for granted, the things that have been forgotten or overlooked, hopefully will never be forgotten again.

On Monday - pray and be thankful

On Tuesday - pray and be thankful

On Wednesday - pray and be thankful

On Thursday - pray and be thankful

On Friday - pray and be thankful

On Saturday - pray and be thankful

On Sunday - pray and be thankful

never forget these things. that the terrorist attacks are never over for those who lost loved ones. that war is no joke to those fighting, or whose loved ones are in the front lines. barely a week goes by between suicide bombing in Israel, we are lucky. never forget how lucky you are. send this on to everyone. remind them to count what they have, not what they want.