what we do is more important than what is done to us

peep a few pictures from the 2007 Mother's Day Peace Walk

Those words were penned by Nikki Giovanni in the aftermath of the shootings that recently took place at Virginia Tech. Enough analogies have been made about bloodshed whether it is on inner-city streets, abroad in Iraq, or in mass homicides. But the message is clear; willpower is indeed powerful. Last year, I walked 3-plus miles in torrential rains with a few hundred others who turned out for the annual Mother's Day Walk for Peace. Today, the sun was shining, the sky was a crisp, clear blue and the mood was phenomenal. And the turnout was phenomenal. I was delighted to see so many familiar faces in the crowd supporting the cause. It is moments like this that give me hope and motivate me to wake up each morning with a determination to withstand anything that may come my way. Each day I am more and more amazed and humbled by the presence of people who do great things of much wider depth and significance that I probably will ever imagine. And they do so in small steps with faintly an awareness of how many are impacted by their humility and grace. Happy Mother's Day.