Taking peace personally. (Colleen Kelly: in person).PACIFISTS ARE NOT POPULAR PEOPLE THESE DAYS. Critics are quick to counter, "How would they feel if they had lost someone on September 11?" Colleen col·leen n. An Irish girl. [Irish Gaelic cailín, diminutive of caile, girl, from Old Irish. Kelly knows exactly how it feels because her only brother died in the World Trade Center. But she believes the best way to honor her brother's memory is to work for peace. "Doing this work is very healing for me. It helps me make sense of the horrific things that have happened," says Kelly, a 40-year-old nurse practitioner nurse practitioner n. Abbr. NP A registered nurse with special training for providing primary health care, including many tasks customarily performed by a physician. and mother of three who is among the founders of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, also known as 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows or simply Peaceful Tomorrows, is an anti-war organiation for survivors of the September 11, 2001 attacks and friends and family members of the victims. , which advocates a nonviolent response to the tragedy that took the lives of their loved ones loved ones npl → seres mpl queridos loved ones npl → proches mpl et amis chers loved ones love npl . Kelly remembers September 11 as one of those beautiful, crisp fall days initially memorable because, for the first time, her daughter didn't cry when dropped off at kindergarten. When a colleague told Kelly that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, she immediately thought of her 30-year-old brother who worked in the e-trade division of Bloomberg Financial Services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. , on 59th Street and Park Avenue. But she reassured herself and nervous relatives who began calling from around the country. "I told them that Billy was fine, that he was miles away." Then she learned from her brother's girlfriend that he had attended a breakfast meeting at the Windows on the World For the theme park in Shenzhen, China, see Window of the World. For the novel by Frederic Beigbeder, see Windows on the World (novel). Windows on the World was an elegant restaurant and adjoining bar that operated between 1976 and September 11, 2001 in New York City restaurant atop one of the towers that morning. By then, both towers had crumbled, but Kelly still held out hope. "Everyone who knew someone in the building was hoping they got out," she remembers. Later that evening, Kelly finally went into Manhattan to look for her brother. That's when she had to admit that he hadn't made it out alive. "It was like a ghost town ghost town, term for any once flourishing American community that has been abandoned, generally for economic reasons. While most of the towns have little or no population, they often contain old buildings, which may serve as tourist attractions. ," she recalls. "There was nobody there. At the hospitals, staff were waiting outside but there were no patients." At a memorial service at St. Francis Church in Long Beach Island, New Jersey, William Kelly Throughout history there have been a number of people named William Kelly.
"If I could do anything to have my brother back, I would," Kelly says, admitting that she has felt tremendously angry, though not vengeful, since his death. "Family and faith are the only things that get you through something like this. Without faith, how do you deal with this tremendous evil?" she says. "I really believe God has been with me every step of the way, wanting me to turn this tragedy into something meaningful for the future." Still, she struggled with Jesus' words from the cross: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan Daniel Berrigan, S.J. (born May 9, 1921) is a poet, American peace activist, and Roman Catholic priest. Daniel and his brother Philip performed non-violent protests against war and were for a time on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. , a peace activist A peace activist is a political activist who strives for peace, and against war. Peace activists are part of the peace movement. The role played by peace activists in preventing wars have been questioned in a paper published by Dr. and good friend, provided a helpful insight. "I felt like the terrorists clearly knew what they were doing," says Kelly. "But Dan, in his infinite wisdom, explained that while they cognitively knew, they had lost their humanness. That helped me forgive and move on." Long active in social justice causes, Kelly wrote a letter to the U.S. bishops during their fall meeting, urging them to push for nonviolent alternatives or at least more conversation before pursuing a military response. She found the bishops' decision to support the U.S. bombing "troubling" and "sad." Eventually Kelly connected with other victims' family members, and they created Peaceful Tomorrows, which sponsored a peace walk from the Pentagon to Ground Zero in November and sent a delegation to Afghanistan after Christmas. The organization is calling for an Afghan victims fund, similar to the one for September 11 victims' families, to help innocent families affected by the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan. Kelly says she knew she had to work for peace when she got the same sick feeling watching the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan that she had gotten on September 11. "I'm just trying to live out the gospel message," she says. "I think people can agree that Jesus would not advocate more violence." COLLEEN KELLY NURSE PRACTITIONER, PEACE ACTIVIST PARISH: Our Lady of Refuge in the Bronx I'D LOVE TO MEET: Bono of U2 SOMETHING PEOPLE DON'T KNOW Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. ABOUT ME: I went to Ronald Reagan's inaugural ball IF I WERE PRESIDENT I WOULD: Surround myself with the most honest people I know, have a surprise monthly dinner with an average American, and pray more. FAVORITE WEB SITE: www.peacefultomorrows.org MOST IRRATIONAL ACT: Marrying Daniel Mark Jones (an act of true love!) FAVORITE QUOTE: "Justice will not come ... until those who are not injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. are as indignant as those who are." (Thucydides) ONE WORD TO LIVE BY: Love HEIDI SCHLUMPF, an associate editor at U.S. CATHOLIC. |
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