take a moment

 

   All Photographs Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved

 Yesterday, of his own volition my son and his friend set up a lemonade stand to raise money for the earthquake victims of Japan. They made forty dollars. Now they are in the process of figuring out what organization to send it to. It was a very compassionate thing to do. I feel as though there has been so much trauma in their young lives, between 9/11, and cylclones and earthquakes and war. I worry about them. I travel quite a bit and this quake hit home especially hard for them as I was only ten days ago, speeding through the country side of Northern Japan on the bullet train. The terrain was peaceful and bucolic dotted with the occasional farmhouse with brilliant blue roofs. I keep going to the videos of the tsunami and watching as the water slowly consumes the landscape, swallowing those very same farmhouses.

It is important to take a moment to feel compassion for those across the sea. The tides can change at anytime. The world is not such a big place after all. Take a cue from two twelve year old boys and their lemonade stand. Even the smallest of gestures have heart and can make a difference.