I knew what my social media memories would be filled with before I looked this morning. The following is one of the things I shared years ago. With added thoughts afterward.
good morning all
Sept. 11, 2001
A day with an ordinary beginning. I went in to work and was responsibly going about my job when a lady from the front office came through and asked if I knew what was going on in the outside world. Since this was long before ‘smart phones’ and we weren’t allowed radios of any sort, I had no way of knowing. When she told me that planes had flown into the twin towers in New York, I didn’t believe her. I thought she was telling a very bad joke. Unfortunately she wasn’t. I believe, in that moment the world tilted. Nothing would ever be the same after this.
My job had me traveling up to the front office anyway, so I took every chance that I could find to get up there. They had set up a very small television and were trying to keep up with what was happening. When we learned that all planes had been grounded, it was an odd feeling walking back and forth to that office, the sky unusually quiet. The country, except for the wailing of the suffering, was quiet in its shock. Watching those towers crumble, knowing that so many lives had just been lost, was horrendous. The dust cloud that swallowed up those who were not quick enough to escape its attack, swallowed up any remaining innocence.
If our attackers thought we would simply roll over and die quietly, they were mistaken. They had awakened a patriotism that had been long missing. Flag after flag appeared immediately, the landscape became a sea of red, white and blue. Flag makers could not keep up with the demand. Churches filled as people sought answers.
We still seek answers.
We will never forget where we were that day, in that moment. Time may have dulled the pain somewhat, but we remember. It doesn’t take much to recall where we were, what we were doing, how we felt. We saw the planes, we saw the people falling, we saw the towers crumble, we saw, we heard the pain of those who lost loved ones, coworkers and friends.
Sept. 11, 2001
We will never forget, we will never allow the loss and the deaths of so many fade away, lost to time and distance. We will never allow the fear and anger that was brought on that day to diminish their importance in out life. We will never allow the attack of others to create a fear within us, to crush or damage the spirit that lives within our heart.
Yet, we will not allow it to consume us, fill us with a fear, hatred, distrust. We will be strong, but not to the point that compassion for others is lost.
On 9-11, everything changed..
On this day
10 (now 21) years ago
I remember the waves of shock that rolled out from the fallen towers, from the Pentagon, from the field in Shanksville, PA. I remember the silence of empty skies. I remember sitting in front of the television, watching the events that happened over and over, still finding it difficult to comprehend. I remember not being able to find a U.S. Flag because people were buying them as quickly as they could find them. From our house to a local shopping center is only a couple of miles, every house, every yard, every light pole held flags. I counted, though time has erased the exact number I know it was high. The sleeping giant of patriotism had been awakened.
We cried out, we sought answers, we demanded revenge. We stood in our homes, we gathered in the streets, we stood on the steps and we swore we would never forget. The field in Pennsylvania has become a place of reflection, a place of reverence. Where the Twin Towers stood, is now Ground Zero, a national memorial.
We construct special places, set aside lands for monuments, names are inscribed in remembrance. We swear to always remember. Some of us do. Some of us visit those memorials, touch the names inscribed, maybe even shed a tear. Some remember. But they say time’s passing dulls the memories. It dulls the emotions of what happened in that moment. With the exception of those who lost loved ones, the hurt, the anger, the loss eases and we move on.
A great deal has happened since 9-11-2001. We have been through and continue to go through much as a nation. We have faced loss in many of its forms. We have lost through wars, crimes, and health crisis. We have watched those meant to lead, meant to protect, do harm instead. We have felt and have been, mislead in many ways. We have spent too much time listening to the voices of those seeking to divide rather than seek out those wishing to build. We are doing to ourselves what outside forces have not been able to accomplish. We are allowing anger, hate, racism, fear, ignorance, to divide and if not changed, destroy us.
Among the things that showed up in my social media memories was a quote by Graham Allen; “Breaking The best way we could ever honor those lost on 9/11 is to live each day like Sept. 12th. There is no race, gender, or political side…in the end, the only thing that matters is each other. Americans ….first Americans…Forever”
Words from The Dirt Road 