Its hard to believe 11 years ago at this time most of us, HOURS after it happened were still reeling in shock. Many of us were numb with emotion at what we had horridly witnessed unfold. Many were frantically searching for loved ones, already knowing deep in their hearts they were gone.
I can very vividly remember that day. I had awoken to make sure the kids all got off to school and then had gone back to bed. I had a migraine and it was one of my worse ones. I took 4 Ibuprofen, turned the phone ringer down, and eventually fell back to sleep. I awoke at roughly 1 p.m. still groggy but my migraine all but gone. I went to the kitchen to get something to drink and noticed the messages on the answering machine...all 23 of them!!!! I flew to the phone in a panic that something was wrong with one of my kids. It was my, now ex, husband. He is an over the road truck driver and had left the night before. I don't remember the exact details of his messages but it was enough to make me fly to the TV and flip it on....
I stood for over an hour in the middle of my living room, tears rolling down my face, at what i was watching. At some point I found my way to a chair and that's where i was when the kids came home. I don't think the TV moved from that channel over the course of the next few days. We had just been to NYC a few weeks before with a group of summer exchange students. The NYC they saw...was now..forever changed.
I can not imagine, even today, the anguish, the fear, the gut wrenching, heart-breaking pain of what every New Yorker felt that day. Especially those who had loved ones in the Twin Towers and surrounding buildings. The people themselves who knew their lives were ending. Those who had family and friends on the 3 doomed flights. Those who had loves ones in the Pentagon. And those who had loved ones who were the most heroic of all. Those men and women who ran INTO the disaster zone to help and never returned.
Our world, our lives, have been forever changed by the events of that day. A day we now refer to as "9/11". Not only did they NYC skyline change, but our way of life changed. We no longer live thinking we are "safe" from terrorists. We no longer can carry a bottle of water onto an airplane. And for a few short months after the attacks...our country was more united then it had been in a very long time. Flags of all sizes were FLYING off the shelves.
For the men and women who spent MONTHS going through the wreckage of the Twin Towers, I can not IMAGINE the horrible memories that they carry with them. I can remember going to NYC just a few weeks after it all happened. You could not get close enough to see anything. But after the holidays we went back again and could get to the street the towers once stood on. I could have stood there all day my face against the fence...just watching..and hoping for an amazing miracle. I can remember a group of firefighters walking past..looking so beaten, so exhausted. I just wanted to reach out and hug them. To let them know that we all felt their pain.
And once a year we remember that day, we reflect. But shouldn't we be remembering everyday? Shouldn't our country be united everyday and not just for a few months after a horrible tragedy? People now fight and argue over what is to be done with the items from the wreckage and the space surrounding where the Towers once stood. Is that how we want to honor all the people who's lives were taken in such a horrific way? Is that how we want to honor all the people who dug for MONTHS to find remains?
We can not change the events of that day. But we can change what we do, say, and think. As we remember and reflect on the past let us not forget to do the same about our future.
I ran out this morning. I don't remember if I had realized or had at the forefront of my mind that it was 9/11. Every time I get out I will always great people that I come into contact with mostly just to get a reaction. I stopped by a sportsman/outdoor shop. Normally when I have been in this store typically I am the only one in the store and begin talking with the employee. Today was seemingly the same, except somehow we got talking about 911. He began to describe his memory of his day. Turns out he is a retired Police Officer from the area where I grew up. One thing lead to another and he remembered me as a teen. (I worked at a gas station that pumped gas and was a towing service for the Police)A younger than I guy came in and began to stroll though out the store and then approached the counter. The employee asked if he could help him, and he wanted to look at an item under the counter. He began to look at it and our conversation continued. By this point we were talking about my cuz from my mothers side. My Mom was an only child and had very little family. One of the family members is currently and Officer and we have met and talked though out the years. I stopped our conversation and ask the customer if he had any questions I didn't want to hold him up if he had a question or was in a hurry. The guy replied, When I came in I expected to just a quick in and out but I could sit and listen to you guys all day. I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or holy crap have I turned into one of those old guys talking about old times. The customer they said today is 911 a day for all of us to remember. I decided its time for me to adhere, slow down my day and just listen. That all being said, you are completely correct by this blog and I believe it can start with two people that exchange a hello.
ReplyDeleteDave E Douglassville Pa,