Forgiving Oneself
In the film we meet three women who travel together to Lebanon to see the Garden of Forgiveness being built in Beirut near several important archeological sites. While there, they plant an olive tree in the name of a departed loved one.
Each of these women lost someone close in the attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11. Lynn McGuinn lost her husband, Frank. Diane Horning lost her son Matthew. Rose Foti lost her son Robert. They found relief in the act of planting the tree because in all three cases they were unable to recover the bodies of their loved one from Ground Zero for a proper burial. They were intrigued by the idea of the Garden and thought maybe a similar memorial could be incorporated into the plans for Ground Zero.
Each woman shows us a different aspect of forgiveness.
Lynn recognized in a brave Lebanese woman she met who works with orphans that the woman’s strength came because she had managed to forgive herself when her brother – a leading Arab peacemaker – disappeared years ago. She tells us it’s not easy to forgive yourself when tragedy strikes and you are helpless to do anything to prevent it. She felt the same thing when Frank died.
Rose carries a special burden because she and her firefighter son had a big disagreement before he died and they had never fully managed to reconcile. She takes pride at the courage he showed as a firefighter in the rescue effort, but now it’s too late to tell him that she is sorry for hurting him and she is proud of him.
Diane talks about her struggle to forgive, including forgiving herself for carrying resentment. She is angry at the way her son’s remains were handled, and the anger is deeply affecting her. She knows this; she can talk quite clearly about why she should move on. But, she doesn’t appear ready yet.
