Stand Tall Tuesday: Boston Will Finish 1st

Thought for the Day: I could not post Tuesday's Psychological Trivia, given the gravity of yesterday's events in Boston. Instead, I want to offer support to Boston's heroes & remind parents of a resource to help them speak with their children about the tragic events. As I watch the footage & coverage of the tragedy that occurred yesterday, I am struck by the rapid response & relative composure of the crowd & first responders. Although people are describing the scene as "chaotic," onlookers & first responders reacted amazingly calmly. Their ability to do so surely saved lives. People sprang into action & helped those in need despite the uncertainty of the situation. The organizers of the Boston Marathon quickly stopped the race & helped runners reach safety. Boston is a strong proud city that will find a way to deal with this challenge. Like a marathon the recovery process will take time, but the rest of the nation & the world will be supporting them as they recover. The good people of Boston will stand tall & finish first.

One of the Dream Nonprofits featured in my book, The New York Says Thank You Foundation, posited this message today on Facebook:
          "PRAYERS FOR ALL THE PEOPLE IN BOSTON. OUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER IS  STRONGER THAN ANY FEAR TERRORISTS TRY AND INSTILL IN US."
For every horrendous act of terror, multiple heroes rose to the occasion & went out of their way to help the survivors.

Since families & children were impacted both at the event & by seeing it on television, I want to remind people that the free PDF downloadable book, "When Bad Things Happen to Children" is still available on my website (Look to the left of the video about my book for the light blue square with the free download box.It looks similar to the information below). It can easily be used with children to help them draw & express their feelings about what they have seen & heard about the traumatic event. Although it was written with the Sandy Hook Tragedy in mind, it is applicable to this event as well. It prints out page by page, so that parents can decide which verses & pages to use with their children. There is a parents' guide explaining how to use this book & additional resources included.

 Look  for this download in a light blue box to the left of a video about my book on my webpage:

Download Free Ebook 'When Bad Things Happen To Children'

Fill out the form below to download your free copy of 'When Bad Things Happen To Children', written by Dr. Barbara Lavi and Lee Delzingo

First Name:
Last Name:
E-mail:

If Nature Was A Mother There Would Be No Hurricanes

Thought for the day: Having just had my electricity restored late last night, I am just beginning to see the images of devastation from Hurricane Sandy. I saw bits and pieces at the comfort station on the internet while dealing with the minor issues I faced on my property & with staying warm. I have been thinking that the term, "Mother Nature," is a misnomer. When we see the beauty of nature it seems appropriate. However, if nature was a mother there would be no hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes.

Now that I have power, I have been seeing & reading posts by New York Says Thank You Foundation & others in areas hit harder than me. Here's a post from NY Says Thank You's Facebook page today: "QUICK UPDATE: Robin Levitin and Jill Smilow made 200 PB&J sandwiches for us to distribute in the Rockaways and dropped off the box at my house. Josh and I just took some of the sandwiches to distribute to people on the gas line at 96th and West End Ave. The 4th car was a woman from the Rockaways who has been on the gas line since 6:30AM who asked me how many sandwiches we could spare for her to share with her neighbors in the Rockaways?. WE JUST FED 200 PEOPLE IN THE ROCKAWAYS BY GOING TO WEST END AVENUE AND 96TH STREET. Think Global. ACT local. " NY Says Thank You is one of the NPO's featured in my book & I am not surprised to see how they have jumped into action to help.

Today was the first day that I could reflect on what has been happening. Other than to be friendly & helpful when I could in my community, I did not have the energy much more than observe & write a bit on the blog & facebook. I found making photos with inspirational comments was the most I could do (two are shown below). Today, I spoke with some people about helping as a psychologist in my area & possibly preparing a video that could tell other towns about the creative ways they met the challenges for this community. I described them in my last post, but cannot praise their efforts enough. The small town of Weston serviced many other towns around here with meals, beds, showers, movies & activities for children, & busing for the elderly from here & the surrounding area.

It is too soon to report about it in detail, since there may be another storm in two days hitting the region with rain & snow. However, I will be telling the story in the coming weeks. Weston CT which has been hit three times with major storms in the last year & a half took over when nature has reared it's un-motherly wrath & nurtured the community with grace, creativity & amazing organization.

I'd love to hear how you & your town are faring & meeting the challenges that the storm has given you. If you are not on the northeast, how have you helped? Our maternal instincts can help our neighbors recover from the wrath of nature's un-motherly side.