As a child I remember hearing my parents and their friends talk about how the impact that President Kennedy’s assasination had upon them. They talked about how they remembered where they were and what they were doing when it happened.
The child I used to be had trouble understanding that, although the events of my own life taught me otherwise. I can tell you where I was when I learned that President Reagan had been shot. I can tell you what I was doing when we lost the Challenger and Columbia and I can tell you what I was doing on 9/11.
I spent some time trying to decide if I wanted to write a new post for 9/11. I mulled over whether I would just show the firemen raising the flag or post the video of the attack on the towers.
Tomorrow the family will do what we always do. Mom and dad go off to work and the kids will go off to school, it will be business as usual.
In other homes around the country children will mourn the loss of their father/mother/brother/sister/husband/wives. They’ll be faced with the hard reality that time never stops. Tragedy may strike, but the world continues. It is a hard and bitter lesson.
Tomorrow I’ll coach soccer practice and thank god that the boys and I live in a country where we can do this. I’ll listen extra carefully to their conversation to see if any of them discuss the day, and then figure out if we need to talk about it at all.
Regardless of what happens I’ll spend time thinking about the day and I’ll probably take a moment to watch the video. The horror of that day never goes away. I have seen the towers collapse more times than I can count, but it always bothers me. And the day that it doesn’t will be the day I wonder about myself.
I’ll probably spend a few minutes in silent prayer hoping that the country comes together and that whomever is elected president exceeds all expectations. The best thing that we can do to honor the memories of those we lost is work to improve things here. We won’t forget them.
For those who are curious here are some related posts.
As The Bodies Fell- He Played
We Remember
Football Saves Lives
911- Five Years Later An Angry Rant
September 11 Musings
Smooth Stone has a fine memorial post to Welles Remy Crowther, a victim of the terrorists. It should be noted that Smooth’s post was part of the Project 2,996 blog.
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