The world as we knew it changed forever.
This morning as I was driving to Grandma's, I was marveling at the beauty of the day. It was sunny, cool but with a delicious warmth to the sunshine, all in all promising to be a gorgeous day. I snapped a couple pictures as I drove. One going over the railroad track...
One was of a field of golden rod and scrubby bushes. And then as I got into town I saw the sign. "We must never forget 9-11" That is all it said, but it was enough. With a jolt it all came rushing back, all the memories, all the terror, all of it. For those of us who were old enough to remember that day, we will never forget. The events of September 11 and the days following are seared in our memories.
What were you doing/ Where were you when you heard? I was at my piano lesson. We were just going in, and friends of ours were coming out. World Trade Center? What was that? At the time I had no idea, but was soon to find out, never to forget. In my mind's eye I was picturing something small, a few stories. In piano, a glimpse of the news on the telly, then home. I remember standing on the porch, as we told Mother the horrible news. Even then I still had not grasped the full impact of what had happened. We did not own a television, but Dad rented one and we stayed riveted to it, all that day and into the next.
At first the coverage was completely live and uncensored, but after awhile they stopped showing the coverage of people jumping from the towers in sheer desperation.
Paper. Dust. Tears. Panic. The feeling of helplessness. Stories of heroism.
After the towers fell and the dust settled, a country reeling from shock gathered themselves together and began the recovery efforts.
Not only was the World Trade Center attacked, but the Pentagon was attacked as well. And in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania another airliner, Flight 93, crashed into the ground. Thanks to the brave efforts of the passengers on board, they had averted even more horrors, at the heroic cost of their own lives.
I remember the ambulances lined up, waiting to take victims to the hospital. Hospitals preparing for a flow of people rescued out of the rubble. People everywhere across the nation were lining up to donate blood.
And we waited breathlessly.
But as time passed, it became painfully clear that very few would emerge from the ashes. In total, out of the World Trade Center towers, (not counting those who escaped before they collapsed) only 5 survivors were dug out of the rubble.
In the days that followed Americans pulled together and displayed the spirit that made America great. We were all Americans, regardless of political views. People everywhere were friendly, everyone was draped in red, white, and blue. Flags sold out as fast as they were on the shelves.
And everywhere brave men and women worked, sacrificed, suffered, and prayed.
Though it did not have the ending we hoped and prayed for, Americans came away from that day stronger and, for the time, more united. We prayed openly and together. We were One Nation, Under God.
It seems hard to believe that it has been so long. I praise the Lord for the mercy He showed to us and our nation amidst the horrors of that day. Let us pray that we will always continue to fight for the ideals & values that made America great.
In the words of Abraham Lincoln "...That we here highly resolve that these dead have not died in vain: that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."~ The Gettysburg Address
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD: and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." Psalm 33;12
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves. and pray, and see my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
~II Chronicles 7:14
Thank you for this. Anne Marie
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Anne Marie. It was a hard post to write, even all these years later I just could not find the right words. But it is something I felt I had to share.
DeleteGod bless.
Holly
Amen! May we never forget the lives that were lost or forever changed on that day. Whether they be loved ones of those that were lost or the survivors and rescue responses. I always found the picture of the police with the flag very moving since it is almost identical to the one with the soldiers from (I think it's WW2).
ReplyDelete