Remembering the Fallen ~ 9/11

I was fourteen years old the first time I saw the World Trade Center.
My sister and I were in New York with our uncle and his family.  We were spending two weeks with them.  Since they lived in Delaware and only a short drive from The Big Apple, they thought they would treat us to a week in the city.  Complete with tours of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  A broadway show, watching a performance of The Rockettes, and of course visiting the observation deck of the amazing "Twin Towers".

We walked everywhere in the city to save cab fare.  When we approached the Trade Center, the view was staggering.  The Towers loomed over the city as giant monoliths of steel.  Amazing to behold, they were a marvel of design and construction.

We walked into the second tower, riding the elevator to the observation area.  Looking out over the city was dizzying.  Overwhelming to my teenage mind, realizing we were hundreds of feet above the sidewalks.  The tiny specks moving about below us people and cars. 

My memory may lack specific details of what the interior looked like, or how many people were there.  We may have eaten in the restaurant for lunch but I dont specificially recall.  I simply remembered feeling awe struck.

I was at home the morning of September 11, 2001.  My husband and I were seperated at the time and my mother was working as a teacher.  My children were at school and I was home from an early shift at the hospital where I’d recently begun work.

The television was dark as I puttered around the house in my pajamas with no clue what was taking place in New York City.  My husband called me. Asking me if I was watching the television because a passenger jet had flown into the North Tower. I didn’t believe him. I thought he was having me on.

I hung up the phone, turning on the television.  I was staggered as within moments I watched the South Tower burst into flames as it was struck by the second aircraft.  They played the footage over and over again.  There was one thing I knew for certain without being told.  This was not a tragic or bizarre accident…it was intentional.  Our country was under attack.  Immediately my thoughts went to the victims who were still in the buildings.  The people who were killed as the planes hit.  Not long after the list would include those injured or killed at the Pentagon.

The situation is still beyond my comprehension to fully understand.  How the brave souls of United 93, who understood the situation better than anyone. Realized they were being used as a weapon against their people, their country, and decided to turn the tables.  Such bravery in the wake of complete horror.

Today is the anniversary of that tragic day.  As Americans and human beings we must never forget the tragedy of that fateful morning.  We must remember the thousands lost to hatred and violence.  The lives of the ones left behind forever changed.  

The problem with the passage of time is how memory can fade.  Pearl Harbor.  D Day.  Generations move on, and the lost are left behind.  I pray this will not be the case on this day.  

I pray we will always remember.  

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Psalm 91

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
    
He is my God, and I trust him.
For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
He will cover you with his feathers.
     
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
 
Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.

Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
 
Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.
If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
 
For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
You will trample upon lions and cobras;
 you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
I will reward them with a long life
I and give them my salvation.”

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