Ann Cronin posted about the efforts of some Americans to heal divisions instead of widening them. 

She writes here about one of those Americans who sought to bridge differences.

Grief doesn’t ever go away, but Manal Ezzat, a Muslim woman and engineer with the U.S. Army who was present at the attack on the Pentagon, took her grief and used it to connect with others in need. She was the project manager for the Army’s space in the Pentagon at the time of the attack. After the attack, she was in charge of redesigning the area where the attack had occurred. She knew immediately that it should not return to being offices. Recently with the approach of the 18th anniversary of that awful day, Ezzat said that she still can’t fully understand that tragedy and yet can never forget it. She said about the chapel, ” We just wanted to make it a peaceful place that could help wipe away the tragedy.”