September 13, 2006
Andrea LeBlanc
When Andrea LeBlanc became a 9/11 widow, her life's purpose turned
to promoting peace.
She sold her veterinary practice, which she started over 25 years ago, to devote
herself full time to peace education.
As a prominent member of 9/11 Families
for Peaceful Tomorrows, she has been
a leader in memorializing innocent victims of war.
In a speech given in the city of Hiroshima, LeBlanc recounted, "On
Sept. 11, 2001 my husband, Robert LeBlanc, was killed on the second plane
that was
flown into the World Trade Center. At that moment my life was shattered into
a million pieces and it is taking a very long time to learn how to make sense
of life again."
But she healed herself by becoming an advocate for peace. She told the
audience in Hiroshima: "The most promising thing to me is the fact
that I believe some of us are waking up to the fact that whatever harms
one of us, harms all
of us. The very existence of nuclear weapons harms all of us.
"Some of us ask ourselves who will suffer because of a decision we make
and remember that, though we don't know the names of the people half way around
the globe who pay (sometimes with their lives) for our decisions, everything
costs someone something. We are, indeed, a 'human family' and have an enormous
responsibility to nurture all its members. We have choices every moment of every
day. We can choose to do no harm.
"We can choose to not to be silent when we see harm being done.
"We can choose kindness in all things.
"We can choose leaders who think about who will be harmed by the decisions
they make, not only about who will benefit."
Out of her personal tragedy on 9/11, Andrea LeBlanc has made it her mission
to reduce violence and promote peaceful solutions to conflict. For that, she
merits this week's BuzzFlash "Wings of Justice Award."
* * * Nominated by
Deborah Jankura of
Lee, NH
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