Twenty Years Later - 9/11

 Ray and I were in New York City in 2001.  We had a fabulous week full of theater, sports, museums, history, and food - so much food. We had walked around the World Trade Center area, waving at window washers, craning our necks to look up, up, up......  We flew back to Texas on 9/1. 

September 11, 2001 dawned with a lovely Tuesday morning. I was driving to work in Dallas when KISS FM (mostly pop talk and fun radio) announced a news bulletin - a plane, maybe, had flown into the World Trade Center tower.  Say what?

Got to work and a few others dragged a very small television out to turn on the news. We watched in horror as the morning unfolded. And when those towers crashed down, down, down, we were all shaken. 

No cell phones. On the regular work landline, I called Ray at his work. He said, "Wow, this is just crazy. We were just there." 

 And yes, I tried to explain to fellow workers, how big these buildings were, how many people could be affected. It was beyond fathom. 

It is still beyond words.  Twenty years later and I remember 9/11 2001 like yesterday. 

Now, a guy at my workplace is only 21 years old. He has no clue, no earthly idea of the enormity of that day.  The world changed. History turned a huge page and we have never been the same. 

Like many pivotal times, the stories are still being written, the salutes are done, and yet it's never enough. 

We must remember and learn and reflect. 

Peace

September 11th

 

 

I still don't understand
I don't think it's possible to understand

words fail

World Trade Center, Pentagon, Shanksville PA
I bow my head in tribute


9-11

September 11th Resonates

I'm optimistic about the future, but not about the future of this civilization. I'm optimistic about the civilization which will replace this one - James Baldwin  1970

The age has an engine, but no engineer - Ralph Waldo Emerson 1854

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structure - John F. Kennedy  1963

9/11: Remembrance & Resolve

9/11 - Don't even have to write the year. But think of children born after 2001,babies and school kids blithely going about their days, innocent and without hatred. A blank slate. Kids who shrug and ask, "What's the big deal?" Guess that's the key for writers of history and I think the key words are remember and peace. We need to remember, but we also need to promote peace.

Trinity Church in the shadow of the World Trade Center buildings proved to be a center for respite, recovery, prayer, healing, meals, and calm strength. The displays of letters written by children and folks from all over the world, teddy bears, fire/police/rescue insignias from every state, and poignant pictures give one pause.

Now, New York City has been and is in recovery and rebuild mode. There's a lot going on at the WTC site.

The hum of American engineering and resolve is evident, as is the hush at times as people peer and ponder. They point, remember, and contemplate September 11, 2001.

John Lennon's words and vision still apply. Imagine all the people, living life in peace.