Today is September 11th, and we as Americans are told to reflect on what happened nine years ago. They say that if you were alive when Kennedy was assassinated, you never forgot where you were. The same holds true for September 11th. I remember exactly where I was: I was at my desk at Putnam Investments in Andover, MA and heard "someone flew a plane into the World Trade Center." I thought nothing of it. But I went to Boston.com and watched, in horror, as the live footage showed another plane crashing into the tower. Those events on that day will stick with me for the rest of mine, and everyone else's, life. The thing I remember is having a co-worker tell me "My brother is on his way to LA this morning, I hope he is ok." Being the eternal optimist that I am, I reassured her that he was and to check in to see which flight he was on. Sadly, he was on Flight 11, and I was wrong with my comforting words. That is something I will never forget. Nor will I forget about all the lives lost on that day, especially of those willing to help out complete strangers to get them to safety. I have a lot of respect for firefighters and police, and get incredibly upset whenever I hear something bad has happened to someone who is out there protecting me. Today I reflected. I thought a lot about the last nine years and how I curse the TSA for making me take off my shoes, empty my bags, and hold up the lines at the airport. I know this is necessary, but I resent what happened on September 11th and how we still pay the price.
In the last nine years, I have had five jobs, three relationships, one husband, two dogs, several losses, and umpteen people come into my life who have become great friends. I have had three cars, three different pant sizes, four gym memberships, six cell phones, and my world collapse around me. I have been to a dozen weddings, two christenings, a million concerts, and several sporting events. Needless to say, there has been a lot going on in the last nine years. Today though, I reflected on those I knew, through six degrees of separation, of those who lost their lives to a bunch of fanatical zealots in the name of religion. And you know what? It really fucking sucks that there are people out there like that.
So tonight, after all is said and done; after we have all reflected, observed our moments of silence and thought about the events that transpired nine years ago, I can only think of one thing: hope. A hope that our world becomes a better place. A hope that future generations don't have to pay for the mistakes we make today. A hope that, no matter what, at the end of the day, we continue to love, support, and help each other. Listen to this and enjoy!
It's so true -- that day made an indelible impression on every American. It's weird, but I think of life in terms of segments now, according to the couple of major events that have so profoundly effected my life and my thinking: pre and post when my dad died and pre and post 9/11.
ReplyDeleteI remember the aftermath of that day and hold out hope that one day we can come together as a country as we did then, but make it last this time.
At the end of the day though, I think we all know that when the real shit hits the fan, we are there for each other, regardless of political party, religion, race, etc. It just sucks that it takes something so catastrophic to make us act in a way that is true to that.