We Remember.

I remember it was the morning of my 22nd birthday when goofy Brett--my fellow software developer at the engineering company we worked at--popped over the cubicle wall to tell me a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I was dismissive at the time, thinking it was some stupid private pilot of a small Cessna. It wasn't ten minutes later, though, that I was walking back from the CIO's office and I saw a bunch of people gathered around the only TV on the floor. As I glanced over simply out of habit, I was brought to a halt by the image of two burning buildings. And the sound of someone saying, "And they say the Pentagon was hit too."

Understand that by the time I was 22, I had benefited greatly from the protection and the opportunities being an American citizen had given me. I was proud to be an American. But, looking back, I was also awfully naive. More naive than I knew before the moment those images burned themselves into my mind.

It wasn't long after the buildings fell that the company said we could all leave early, go be with our families, sit and cry, do whatever we needed to do to cope.

I walked out alone, having had little emotional reaction up to that point. As I crossed in front of the building, headed toward the parking lot, I looked up and noticed that someone had already moved the flag to half-staff. And that's when I cried. Because before that moment, as much as I thought I had loved that flag and honored that flag, I--at 22--had no real life knowledge of what that flag really stood for. And I was only beginning to realize the challenges that lay ahead.

On this morning, we can count the lives lost in those fiery explosions, we can look thankfully at our civil servants who sacrificed themselves, we can reflect proudly on the heroics of the doomed citizens on Flight 93, and we should remember that our military has carried the cross of that day for the past eight years... I hate that it happened. It can bring a tear to my eye, even on this day, so far from that initial moment. But I am also grateful to have received the wake-up call. I hope that we can remember not just the tragedy but the blessings on this day as well. We learned we had weaknesses, but we also realized we were stronger than most of us may have realized prior to that moment.

This thing called America is so much deeper than any building anyone who hates us can blow up or tear down. And it has come so much farther than even our forefathers would have imagined. We have so very much to be proud of and thankful for.

I only heard this song in the past year, but it's a great reflection. It's called Where Were You, by Alan Jackson. Read it and tell us how your life was (or wasn't) altered on Sept 11, 2001.

"Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?
Out in the yard with your wife and children;
Working on some stage in LA?
Did you stand there in shock at the site of
That black smoke rising against that blue sky?
Did you shout out in anger;
In fear for your neighbor;
Or did you just sit down and cry?

Did you weep for the children
Who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know?
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below?

Did you burst out in pride
For the red white and blue;
The heroes who died just doing what they do?
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself to what really matters?

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?
Teaching a class full of innocent children?
Driving down some cold interstate?
Did you feel guilty cause you're a survivor;
In a crowded room did you feel alone?
Did you call up your mother and tell her you love her?
Did you dust off that bible at home?
Did you open your eyes and hope it never happened;
Close your eyes and not go to sleep?
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages;
Speak with some stranger on the street?
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow;
Go out and buy you a gun?
Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watching
And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns?
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some stranger;
Stand in line and give your own blood?
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family;
Thank God you had somebody to love?

I'm just a singer of simple songs,
I'm not a real political man.
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran.
But I know Jesus and I talk to God,
And I remember this from when I was young--
Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us,
And the greatest is love."

Comments

[Austin Matthews]

Um, I didn't realize that Bin Laden had been a problem for our country for years. After 9/11 I started paying attention to what happens "over there"... because it became clear that "over there" could quickly become "over here."

[Jess]

My friends & I visited grnd zero several yrs later; a man was playing amazing grace on the bag pipes... it was surreal. I have never felt so close to people I never knew or so grateful for a country still moving--sometimes stumbling--forward.

[Mark A]

This guy I used to work with remotely was killed in the towers that day. He didn't work in them, but in one of the other WTC buildings. He went in to help. He came out twice and went back in, and then the building collapsed. I had worked with a hero for almost a year. And had no idea until that moment. I've never forgotten him.

[Samantha]

Everyone was so kind after 9/11, but it seems like most people have forgotten now. ;(

[Katie S]

I got stuck on the west coast with a bunch of friends and we just wanted to get home (to the east coast) to be close to all our friends and family who were hurting. We took the most bizarre cross country road trip ever. Saw some of the most beautiful parts of the country on the way to a very different NYC.

[Michael James]

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1921758,00.html