Category Family
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Today is a profound day for everyone in the U.S., and I am sure to the rest of the world (to a lesser extent). The tragic events of 11 September 2001 touched all of us, as a country; but I find that everyone either knew someone killed, someone involved in the rescue efforts, or someone who survived those attacks in New York and Washington D.C. We're one of those families.

Background
My wife's cousin (on her mom's side) is a firefighter in Manhattan. His name is Jerry Bonner, and he's a good looking, red-headed Irishman - what I always picture as a NY Firefighter. He worked a 12 hour shift the night before the attacks, and he was scheduled to leave at 9AM. Jerry had a busy night the night before, and a few of his "station brothers" (i.e. coworkers) came in a little early that morning and subsequently let him go home early. Jerry was driving home (I think he was living on Staten Island at the time, near his family) when the first attack happened. Jerry tried like hell to get back to the station house to help his brothers in this overwhelming, horrific effort - but he was unable to get there in time.

In the end, his station house lost over 50 people in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

Jerry had a tough time with this, for quite some time (as you can imagine). My daughters - on their own, with no prompting from my wife nor I - got all of their classes to write notes, make cards, etc. to express their love and admiration for their work, and to let them know that everyone loves them and is thinking of them. We sent the beautiful, loving creations of these kids to Jerry's fire station, in his name - and he told us that he and many of the firefighters wept when they received these expressions of love from these kids over a thousand miles away.

Close to Home
My wife and my youngest child Tommy (currently 9 years old) are both acute asthmatics. They are in control 99% of the time, but there is that other 1% where we need the help of the EMTs from our local fire station. It happens to be across the street from my neighborhood, which is very handy - and very much appreciated. So we not only love and respect the firefighters for their heroic efforts, every day, but we also have a personal connection to this fire station. And while everyone appreciates what they do, we try to do something a little more personal.

Every year, for 11 September Anniversary (9/11) and other holidays (i.e. Thanksgiving, X-mas/Hannukkah, and more), we bring our local fire station some food. A sandwich/deli tray, or a turkey, or something else that makes a meal, plus a cake or other sweet dessert. We (i.e. the family, especially the kids) make the food (we don't buy it made from the store), and the kids decorate the cake. In the case of the 9/11 cake, Debbie and the kids make sure to put things like "Never Forget", "343", and so on to personally commemorate this event. Then the whole family goes to the fire station and delivers the food. We have the kids carry the food and deliver it personally to the firemen, and they talk to the firemen to explain what we brought, how we appreciate them, and so on. The firemen are always surprised and appreciative, and I think it means a lot to them.

Underlying Lesson
So why do we do this? Because Debbie and I want our children to understand that real heroes aren't in movies, or on professional sports teams; real heroes are those who sacrifice their own time and effort - and sometimes their lives - towards the greater good. Teachers, firemen, policemen, and the military are the true heroes in our society, and these are the people who should be admired and adored. Our efforts to provide a small token of our appreciation to our local firemen is not only intended to let these men and women know how much they mean to us personally, but it is also intended to drive home to our kids that these are the types of individuals who deserve our respect and admiration. Furthermore you should not only admire these individuals, but also let them know that you admire them. Bring them some food, a home-made card, or even walk up to a cop, fireman, or teacher and say "thank you". People are too quick to complain, but too slow to compliment; and I want to encourage my children to break that mold, and be different - in a positive way.

As far as 9/11, this "random act of kindness" also drives home to them that something terribly tragic happened that day many years ago, and we should never forget those who perished, and those who risked everything to help others - for these people are the true heroes.

Rock