9/11 – Memories and Prayers
I know a lot of people are going to be talking about today. It’s been 8 years. Doesn’t seem like it, but time marches on. To commemorate the day, I noticed the time at just about 7:59 (CDST) and said a prayer for the survivors and families dealing with today. It hits some harder than others. If you’re one of them, know you’re thought of and prayed for.
Then I found this in my files. It’s the first thing I ever “sold” to YardDog Press for their fundraiser chapbook, Beyond the Skyline. That was the beginning of a beautiful relationship with that house and allowed me to get through some of my own feelings. Mostly of Regret… I wish I could remember what I titled it back then…
September 11, 2001, will live in my memory as a day of regrets. I regret the loss of life, the insanity leading to it, and my own reactions. I was heading to the North Texas high school where I work when I heard that a plane had hit the first tower. I honestly thought a pilot had been hot-dogging through Manhattan and miscalculated. I never even heard about the second plane – at least not first hand.
The kids I worked with that day came to class talking about the tragedy. By the time they’d come to school, the second plane had hit. I relentlessly tried to keep them focused on their class work. I will always regret not allowing them to participate in that moment of history. I never fully realized the extent of the horror until much later. Even as my heart went out to the victims and families, I selfishly thought and prayed, “Thank God I was there LAST week.” I was lucky; so many others were not.
In the aftermath, I – like everyone else – am playing arm chair general. If it were up to me, I think I’d be doing much the same as those trained to deal with it. This has to be a surgical strike to remove those – and only those – responsible, with the exception of the reporters. If I could, I’d be slapping around those reporters who continually asked the same unanswerable questions. Sure they realize terrorists watch television, too, and if WE know the exact plans of the military, then so will THEY. Those responsible will be hard enough to find without being tipped off, and we have to concentrate ONLY on those responsible, or with the resulting loss of innocent life, there will be that much more to regret.
1 Comment
Thank you for sharing – I believe that through sharing our thoughts and feelings about that day, we in some small way continue to honor those who lost their lives that day.
Your point about the reporters is excellent. I remember thinking that day: “Stop telling everyone where the President is!” After all, we didn’t yet know who was responsible, or if it was over.
If you’re interested, here is a piece I wrote: http://bryanrutt.blogspot.com/2009/09/never-forget.html