"In America" by Greg Tannen

What I remember about that September 11th, is what a beautiful, perfect, glorious September day it was. And I also remember that in those moments.. the minutes, hours, days and weeks that followed, I saw the best of New Yorkers and humanity in general. Everyone was so kind, so concerned, and so drawn to one another in a way that I have never seen before or since. Strangers reached out to their neighbors to make sure they were okay, volunteers were turned away because there were too many people showing up to help, and people nodded to one another on the street in solidarity. I notice that attitude still at times when I am in certain buildings in lower Manhattan. People say 'Hello' to each other on the elevator & 'Have a nice day' when they exit with a knowingness that we are all in this together and at any moment, we may REALLY be in this together. I love this song because it captures that human kindness amongst strangers and the ultimate goodness of the human character. In fact, I weep whenever I hear this song because it somehow manages to extract the sweetest and most hopeful scenario out of that most horrific of days and elements of that day that might normally be too awful to even consider. It gives me hope to think of it in this way and it breaks my heart wide open.

Kirsten Hamann