The journey of grief, like a scavenger hunt, does not allow us to know ahead of time where we will end. Two weeks ago when the country was devastated by the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the grief I felt could best be described as numbing. Since then I have traveled with the rest of the country on a journey flooded with tears. Even in the midst of tears, however, healing began to occur. In the midst of tears, I realized it was a good thing to feel the pain. Pain means I am still alive … something a lot of people wish they could say about loved ones. But there is another important thing this particular pain indicates to me. This particular pain makes me know, more than anything I have ever experienced, that I am truly a part of a larger entity. This pain, experienced on behalf of thousands of people I have never met, has convinced me, finally, that the American experience belongs to all of us. And it seems that a lot of us are learning the true meaning of the American experience.

For the past twenty years, it seems a lot of us have become confused about the true American experience. Somehow, somewhere, in our "pursuit of happiness" we lost our way. We have been caught up in an ever- spiraling attempt to create "happiness" through the accumulation of material things. We have become the nation of huge energy-guzzling homes, multiple environmentally toxic automobiles and individual television sets for each family member. We have crammed our homes and our lives with so much "stuff" that there now exists professionals to help us manage it all -- personal organizers who, for a fee, show us how to cope with our schedules and our possessions. And through it all, we have shut ourselves off in an isolation booth, waiting for the big question --- who are we really?

Sadly, it has taken a horrific act of cowardice on the part of hate mongers to force us to come up with an answer. Before September 11th, could we have truthfully answered that we are one nation, united? Could we have looked past skin color and economic status and denominational differences to cry with one another? Could we have all stood side-by-side under a flag that represents the same thing to all of us? When this horrible time in history has passed, will we be able to do those things again? I hope so because it is those kinds of things that truly define the American experience.

For comments or inquiries you can send email to Kara Lynn