Remembering the Day...

Five years ago, this morning I sat down on the couch to fix Taylor's hair for school. She was in Kindergarten and the easiest way to get her to sit still was to turn on the TV and watch cartoons.  Instead of Blue's Clues, however, we saw the now famous image of smoke pluming out from the first WTC building. 

I listened while Matt and Katie tried to sort out the details--Was it a bomb or something else less innocuous?-- I immediately called Scott, thinking that he would be online and was undoubtedly following this very closely.  "What's going on with the World Trade Center?" I asked him. "Are you watching?"  But because of meetings that morning, he hadn't yet turned on his computers.  I was surprised to be the first to find out about this whatever it was, and as he tried to dig up information on the computer, I sat with eyes glued to the TV & ear to the phone, as we witnessed the plane fly in and crash into the second WTC building.  I told Scott what I was watching & he relayed information from the web to me over the phone. 

It is hard to think back to that time without feeling the same emotions: shock, disbelief, marvel at the insanity of people, heartbreaking pity for the people we watched as they ran for their lives away from the destruction, and incredible pride in those that ran toward it, to help and even for some of them, to die.  I remember the days and weeks that followed. How our entire country seemed to be of one mind & one heart.  Flags flew in every home, car and business.  I remember feeling so proud to be an American, despite the grief, the fear, the pain that followed this day.  I cried for weeks and weeks.  I watched the TV constantly following the stories, sobbing with the families searching for their missing ones, believing the President as he and other leaders tried to reassure us all that those lost would not go unavenged, searching for the hope in the aftermath of the destruction. 

It amazes me to think that five years have gone by. I remember it like it happened a week ago.  I don't think I will ever forget.  I hope I never do.  I think the tragedy of that day is worth a few memories and even more tears.  I have cried a few today, though the pain is less,  and I do every time I remember that day. 

This day, five years later,  is different than that day, however. Today, my tears are tempered by the stories I see of families who have moved on and who have grown through faith and time.  I am a different person.  I have changed even though I was not personally affected, though it feels very personal.  I can see that sometimes the worst brings us the best and that we can triumph over even the most tragic of circumstances.  We are all connected and each life can have a profound impact on another, though we may not ever meet or speak.  I am grateful to have learned these lessons and to know that the sacrifice of that day was not for nothing. 

Here is a link to Tonya's Blog entry on that day: September 11, 2001