September Ends....

During September we celebrated a day off from work - Labor Day, kids returned to school, parents had at least 6 hours of freedom a day, summer ended - but that's okay, fall and winter sports are about to begin, and the beginning of the holiday season...

All of these are things we take for granted on a day to day basis and we tend to put them in the back of our mind because they are recurring every year.

However, there is one day that is beginning to be (with only local news reporting) and will perhaps be forgotten as Pearl Harbor Day (2,896 casualties) has been forgotten, as the end of WWI (37 million casualties), WWII (over 60 million casualties,) the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (approx. 199,000 casualties and doesn't include those who designed the atomic bomb, who gave the orders to drop the atomic bomb, or who did the actual act) Korean War (4 million total casualties - 336,00 Americans,) Vietnam War (6.5 million casualties - approx. 600,000 Americans,) The Gulf War (approx. 300,000 casualties - 183,000 Americans,) and most recently the end of our military presence in Iraq (over 150,000 Americans & other coalition members and over 1 million Iraqi civilians - all the casualties of the Iraqi civilians are not the direct result of our military - the majority are due to the terrorist attacks on our military and areas that hold more civilians claiming collateral damage due to their own hatred of the United States) which it has been eerily silenced.

It will join the words in the history books as everything else and those words are not all telling...

The day was named Patriot Day in honor of the fallen citizens of the United States and other countries who were victims in the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon, on AA Flight #11, and the Twin Towers. The East Coast will never forget, however, others throughout the United States may not have the same memories, the same feelings about what happened since they weren't close to it...It is almost like the earthquakes on the West Coast which are intense and devastating, but on the East Coast we have never felt the true impact of an earthquake, surely we have had tremors but not the devastation as on the West Coast...Tornadoes are another event we couldn't imagine until recently...

All who have perished in one form or another because of 9/11 will be remembered in their families' hearts and through history books; but will only be remembered by the masses when we all take part in the memories. So as you visit SoBoBo this last weekend in September and until September 30th, you will view an exhibit in homage to those heroes who probably never thought they would be considered heroes in their wildest dreams...

As Sheila Pite's sculpture "Re-Membering" shows the shock in Figure's face as she looks up to the Towers re-creates every one's emotions that day. As she gazes up, she also looks at "5-Star flag" by Allan Dudek which represents the five branches of our military as well as their courage and bravery. To Figure's right stands "Stars & Stripes In The Round" hand carved by Robert Pike.

"5 Star Flag"
mixed media
by Allan Dudek

"Re-Membering" - sculpture - by Sheila Pite
(Right) "Stars & Stripes In The Round" - hand carved bass wood - by Robert Pike

To her left one can see a mezzo tint by Genna Riggi of "A Soldier's Silence." Yes, the title alone lends you the knowledge of how brave our military men and women truly are. Looking at it one can see flags in the distance, a bit tattered, but flying proud.

"A Soldier's Silence"
Mezzo tint
by Genna Riggi

As Figure would glance down to her left you can see the quilt "Clouds & Stars" by Marilyn Cocking with hands emerging out of the dust from the devastation "Help Me, I Am Here" or are they saying "Please Raise Me Up To The Heaven's For I Will Never Be Saved." The image so striking, hitting you. One hand white, one hand black - "Life's Shadows" by FranCesca beautifully done! So many interpretations, Are they the hands of the same person; are the hands representing that we truly are One; are the hands representing for this exhibit ALL the ethnicities and races that perished that fateful day? Only you can decide, for the interpretation is always in the eye of the beholder.

"Clouds & Stars"
hand quilted
by Marilyn Cocking

"Life's Shadows"
Traditional Photography
by FranCesca

To the right stands "Class of '42" by Allan Dudek, although it represents the brave of WWII it is a reflection of ALL the brave of every skirmish we have been involved in.

"Class of '42" - mixed media - by Allan Dudek

"Re-Membering" meaning to attach again to something lost, something from the past....There are those who say re-membering is unhealthy and one must forget and move forward, but yet, if we do forget we will never know or understand what is needed to go forward...for it is the strength of the past that pushed us to our future, not hate and anger; and when we waver, with a sense of falling we look back to find that strength...

and to think it is ONLY A MEMORY....

Be at Peace...