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Each of us can remember
where we were when disaster struck. I can still remember
the day I heard about a tidal wave in the Indian Ocean
that had reportedly killed 10,000 people. It was a quiet
morning after Christmas in the snowy woods of rural
Vermont. On hearing the news, my nieces and I tried
to figure out how many people “10,000” might
represent in comparison to somewhere they knew, like
Montpelier, their nearest city and state capital. But
Montpelier has only around 8,000 inhabitants, so I had
to ask them to imagine that more than Montpelier had
been wiped out.
Disastrously, the tragedy
was much larger than first reported. So many died that
even now we cannot be sure how many. The toll is so
vast, that we really only profoundly understand it through
the images of single individuals and their suffering:
the orphan baby waiting to be adopted, the man who survived
for seven days beneath an overturned boat, the tribesman
who saved his tribe by warning them in time, the brother
who lost his wife but not his children and whose brother
lost all his children but not his wife. Day after day
for over a month we have shared in these stories as
the world has answered the call to help those lost in
the devastating aftermath of an earth-shattering event.
Last night we gathered
to acknowledge a common humanity with those half a world
away, whom we have never met, whose lives we can only
imagine but hope to touch. In both Barcelona and New
York, I have been privileged to know people whose dedication
to generosity, global understanding, and a desire to
improve the circumstances of all humanity through even
the smallest acts of compassion are truly inspiring.
All those who contributed last night in whatever way—through
money, donations, time, or simply their presence at
the act of commemoration—are to be celebrated
and thanked for that generosity. It will be what endures
after tragedy and what truly serves to transform our
unpredictable, uncertain, awesome world.
By Hillary Gardner
Click on the images.
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