Lanterns for 9-11

As I sat in front of the TV yesterday watching the memorial for the victims of United 93, tears streamed down my face. Renee and Siena asked me what was the matter and I had the challenge of telling two 5 year olds what happened to our country that day. I told them how mommy was in NYC that day; how the tall buildings were struck by airplanes, and how mommy won't ever get to see her friend again who was on that United 93 flight.... Needless to say, I didn't get into details, but since their Grandfather is a retired NYC fireman, I did talk about the heroes from that day, but how unfortunately there are many kids who no longer have their mommies and daddies.

They were genuinely sad as they saw their mom still tearing. Then, my daughter Renee made a remarkable suggestion that made me cry even more: "Mom, let's make lanterns and send them into the sky like in Tangled. Remember, when the king and queen missed their daughter, that's what they did and she came back!" She sounded so hopeful, I envied her naivete. But I so loved her idea, and that's what we did.

We made Tangled lanterns out of milk cartons. I cut off the top of the milk carton, and then cut out panels from each side. The girls mod podged tissue paper around the frame. I found a Tangled template here and with an exacto knife carved it into vellum-like paper and used those as the new panels. I hole punched two holes at the top and put curling ribbon through them. We used battery operated candles for safety.

So, last night we turned on each candle and tied them from our front tree when it got dark.

The girls felt proud for helping mommy, and I was proud of them for thinking of the idea. And in its own way, helped mommy.

My heart goes out to any of you who lost someone on that tragic day. I hope you are able to find some comfort and support today and each day that goes by.

Linking to:

Making Monday Marvelous

Made by You Monday

Craftomaniac Monday

Tuesday Confessional Link Party