9-11

11 September 2011       

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of a horrendous event in our nation’s history.  I can’t help but tear up when I think of all the innocent people who lost their lives that day.  The worst memory I have was of the people jumping out of windows 80 or more stories up in the air from the towers to avoid being burned alive.  How horrible is it that jumping hundreds of feet to your death was preferable to slowly roasting alive?  Too horrible for words, that’s for sure.  I know that if it were me, even with my extreme fear of heights, I would choose to jump as well.

On this day, as with so many millions of other people, I remember.  I remember the innocent victims of the plane crashes.  I remember the first responders that responded but never returned.  I remember the lives of their family members and friends and the rest of the nation being forever and irrevocably changed.  Never were we to look at life and liberty in the same light again. 

I remember what it was like to be leaving for work on that day in September ten years ago and walking passed the television and watching as the planes crashed into the towers.  I remember not being able to tear myself away from gaping at the spectacle of it all.  I remember how empty and hollow I felt that day, but how I had to move on and go to work anyway. 

Maybe that’s something to take away from this all and to help cope with the disaster of that day…that even though something horrible happens, that life must still go on.  You must pick up the pieces and continue on.  But not like nothing happened.  Oh no, not at all like that.  You must pick up the pieces and hold them near and dear to your heart, always remembering what happened and not taking another moment of your life and liberty for granted.  It means you must make the lives of all who perished that day count for something.  Don’t let life pass you by.  Don’t let the little things trip you up.  Don’t let a quarrel keep you from the ones you love and care for.

This day finds me at work and in another state, far away from my loved ones.  I wish I could be with my family on this day and celebrate how much they all mean to me.  I wish I could tell them to their faces today just how precious they are to me, how much they matter in my life, how I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it weren’t for them and their love for me.  My hope is that everyone take a moment to let their family and friends know just how much they love them and how much they mean to them today.  It doesn’t take much, just a well placed “I love you” or “you mean the world to me” and you will make their day and you will also honor the memory of those who lost their lives.