I took this on the evening of August 6, 2005, the 20th Anniversary of the Seattle From Hiroshima to Hope Lantern floating ceremony, at Green Lake. It was the 50th anniversary of the detonation of a nuclear bomb at Hiroshima. Thousands of people gather on the northwest shore of the lake, make small donations, pick up their lanterns, have them blessed by a Buddhist monk, bring them down to the shore, have them lit, and launch them, with prayers for peace.The 23rd Anniversary gathering is tonight.
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I read the story of the 1,000 Paper Cranes about the girl who was dying of atomic bomb disease and after my dad's fight with cancer, I made them for his funeral. A few months later, my best friend's mom died of cancer, too and I made a flower arrangement with them on sticks, then sent 200 cranes in breast cancer pink in her honor to a memorial which is I think in Hiroshima.
This picture gives me goose bumps. The symbolism is so wonderful! And to think that there probably wasn't a Buddist monastery in Seattle at the time! We have come a long way.
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