Remember to love each other.

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
John 15:12 (NABRE)

I wasn't sure how to handle teaching Jude about 9/11. To be honest, I was really thinking about ignoring it entirely. It's something that as an adult I find so hard to comprehend; to expect a five-year-old to grasp any of the events was more than I could imagine.

A new wing at DuPont is currently under construction. It is being built in front of the main entrance, where the flagpole used to be. The pole was moved to outside the playground, and today was re-dedicated to in memory of the September 11 victims. Of course, the flag was flown at half staff. Jude noticed this difference as we drove by, and remarked "That flag fell down to the middle." I told him that the flag was in the middle on purpose -- to remember people who died. Of course, the next word out of his mouth was "Why?" *gulp*

After a quick prayer for the right words, and fighting to keep my voice even, I explained that a few years ago, some people didn't like our country very much and wanted to hurt us. They killed a lot of people, hoping to scare us into hating each other and doing what they wanted. But they weren't able to scare us, and make us listen - Americans decided it was a time that showed us we needed to love each other more than ever. The flags were only halfway up today to remind us that everyday we need to tell and show people how much we love them, and then the bad men will know they've lost.

When we got home to do our schoolwork, I found an age-appropriate 9/11 coloring printout from Apples 4 Teachers - a heart shaped flag. Jude colored it "red and white stripes and blue, like the flag at the hospital." After gluing it to the construction paper, we wrote the date at the top, and I asked him what we should write on the bottom. He looked at me straight on, and said "LOVE, Mommy. We have to remember to love."