Wednesday, July 9, 2008

This Trains Gotta Stop!



The Quaker Service Committee's protest against the War, Eyes Wide Open, came to Greensboro several years ago. I along with my family visited the Old Downtown Depot ( recently remodeled ) to see this moving and sad installation. I just found a panorama online of this installation. The singing in the background makes it seem like a holy place. As each US death was marked with one pair of boots, today it could never fit within the depot. Along the outer edge children's and women's shoes were stacked in chaos to represent the civilian deaths. Today, they would need a mountain of shoes to do justice to their memory.

Be sure to direct your mouse upward to look upward at this amazing train station. I have been here to say goodbye to my son as he boarded the train to go to college. I cannot fathom the sadness of the parents who came here, to this memorial, to say goodbye once more to a loved one. This trains gotta stop, Mr. President.

1 comment:

Mona said...

Hi Todd,

I actually participated in Eyes Wide Open today in Austin. It was a very touching experience. I was reading the Iraqi names. Before we started the opening ceremony, we walked around. One of the first pairs of shoes I saw were that of a little baby and of a 3 year-old. I have both a baby and a 3 year-old, so you can imagine the feeling. It was overwhelming because of the effect of actually seeing something as simple as shoes can have on us-the symbolism was great. Thanks for your awesome blog! Take care,

Mona
JustAskAMuslim.com :)

ps. still working on the piece for the exhibit.