Looking Back

I have no adequate words to describe exactly what I felt on September 11, 2001. While I remember the day and the weeks which followed like they were yesterday, I can't bring myself to write my 'feelings' down here.

Can't write them down here? No, that's not quite right. If I'm being honest with you, I guess I'll have to admit that I won't write them here. Mostly because they were my feelings; and you, well, you have your own memories and feelings to contend with.

Looking back, I remember sitting in my home watching television reports until the early hours of the morning of the Twelfth. News teams broadcast live from the fallen hulk of the World Trade Center 24/7 in the weeks which followed.

My eyes burned not from eye strain, but from an un-characteristic redness which lasted several days, but probably it was more like a week. Or, maybe I was just tired from watching too much coverage on television...

Will I ever write what I felt? No, probably not. I'll leave it to real 'writers' (you know - the ones with Journalism Degrees or 'letters' after their names) to re-live the events of those days and re-count them with dry eyes. 

As for me, I'm just a guy who wants our country to be more vigilant in the future and for our troops to come home safely when they know their job is done.

Lastly, I guess I want the people who represent us to never forget what happened in our not-so-distant past. 

For in those days following the attacks we were all just 'Americans' again.    



Then, of course, we got over it...

Sleep well tonight America, but before you nod off, say a prayer for the soldiers, law enforcement officers, fire fighters and all those who work tirelessly to keep us safe. 

I hope that God will watch over you and your family; keeping you safe from all threats, foreign, and domestic.


09/11/2012 Update:  I posted the above thoughts four years ago on another site.  Looking back at the four ensuing, and over the entirety of the eleven years, I find that our Nation has become more fractured than it was prior to 09/11/2011.  I fear that time has dulled our collective memories of that day in September, 2001.  

We have re-hyphenated our Races:
White-American,
African-American,
Hispanic-American,
Asian-American, etc.


We have re-hyphenated our Religions:
Catholic-American,
Jewish-American,
Muslim-American,
Protestant-American,
Mormon-American, etc.

We have forgotten why we went to war, after war came to us

So, the question for all of us is this:  Did they win?


Eleven years later, I'll leave you to answer this question for yourself.   


It's another Tuesday morning, just like the one I awoke to eleven years ago.  As with most dates of historical significance I remember the day itself with eerie clarity.  I remember the news.  I remember the weeks which followed.  I remember the interviews of families torn apart in the aftermath of the attack.  I remember that brief period in time in which a Nation came together as a family. 

In the end, when you come down to it, all you have is your family.  Most times, that's more than enough.


This simple fact, and 09/11/2001...


I will never forget.