The Boston Marathon bombing started the week. Terrorism, again. 9-11 will not sleep in peace. In Jersey City, the impact was direct and little is necessary to open the floodgates of memory. The anxiety and sadness and sense of loss felt in Boston we recognized and know all too well. We also know the frustration of being unable to stop it, and of taking measures that have terrible consequences. And, we also know the pain of not just the grief, but the inevitable inexplicability that we arrive at after attempting to fathom the reason behind the action and why those specific victims were targeted. All you have is that anxiety, sadness and sense of loss. You never quite answer, much less resolve the why, but you go on anyway.
The Star Magnolia is a small tree from Japan that blossoms in the spring. The petals are pinkish white stars. The branches bare since the end of summer are now filled with soft color, the tepals like thin fingers of a suddenly open hand, beckoning peace. The local park reminds us to take a moment and welcome Spring.
Read the sign. Jon Schlissel was a 9-11 victim, one of the several from Jersey City. The tree is for him and has shown us Spring every year. This year it blossomed the same week another terrorist attack hit an American city, more than a decade after the one that took Jon.
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