"Never Forget" 9/11

 

It was a sunny morning.  I was home playing with my 2 ½ year old son. I wasn’t working and we were 25 days away from tying the knot. The phone rang, he said turn on the TV, a plane just hit a building in NYC. I said OK; neither of us knowing at that moment our nation, our people, and our homeland was under

brutal attack. The day unraveled in a way that no one could of ever possibly imagined.

The stories, the pictures, the news coverage the utter sadness and rage that we all felt was pure. It was electrifying. The Nation for the first time (that I remember) was WHOLE. We were TOGETHER. It was during this time there was no racism or hate, we were just ALL human beings trying to do something, anything to help one another.  Service men, military, firefighters, police and paramedics from all over volunteered for countless hours, days, weeks and months risking their lives to save others. The days dragged on and no one day was any less sad than next. I would just sit in my living room and cry at the news on a daily basis. Then he said it, my baby said “Momma, Big Mess” pointing to the TV coverage. (I will never forget it) I made the conscious decision to turn off the television that day. Not because I didn’t care but because I cared. I cared about how my little man was going to perceive the visions that were consuming me. I chose that day to let his innocence carry me through and I chose to not let our attackers WIN. So, from that day forward we resumed our daily routines, I finalized and put finishing touches on our wedding day. At night when he was tucked in tight, I would watch the news. I would follow endless stories of missing loved ones and listen to the President speak as if he were speaking directly to me in my living room. It wasn’t over.

It’s still not over. When you say Sept 11^th, you feel it, you think about it, to relive it. It is etched in our minds forever. They say “NEVER FORGET” but in all honesty how could you? It’s a day 12 years ago that changed a piece of us forever. It’s a day that made us doubt who we were as a nation and it’s a day that made us believe in who we were. We stood together loving each other and in full support of our red, white and blue.

It was the day we were attacked and our loved ones were murdered, it’s a day that I hope our children never have to see a duplicate of but it’s also a day that reminds me of the love, sacrifice, commitment, bravery, empathy, courage, kindness, dedication and hope that we are ALL capable of.

Today is a remembrance for those we lost on that terrifying day, may they rest in peace. May their families know they are still thought about and know they are not forgotten.  Today is a reminder that our lives can change in an instant and the things that you take for granted someone else is praying for.