five years
My daughter and I went to a 9/11 memorial at our city hall this morning. I've been trying to avoid most of the countless re-enactments and documentaries on TV because I just can't watch it over and over again anymore. The only thing I did watch was something about the people who were trapped in the elevators at the WTC and managed to escape. I also haven't gone to any of the movies about that day. But something about a small memorial service in our city didn't seem too intimidating, so we went. My daughter and I admired the fire trucks and police cars there, listened to our national anthem being sung, watched some children lower the city flag to half-staff, and watched the color guard present our flag.
We also talked to a reporter about what this day meant. I told him we were there to remember the five year anniversary of 9/11/01. It seemed in some ways like it just happened. Although we were fortunate in that we didn't lose any family or friends, we did have one seriously close call. Dear friends of ours and their two sons took a vacation to New York City that weekend. They went to a Yankees game, visited with friends of theirs, and took in all the major tourist sites. On September 10, 2001, they went to the World Trade Center. They took pictures of their kids on the observation deck, and video of the city's skyline. This was probably some of the last footage shot from that building, and I suspect that if historians knew they had it, they would want copies.
Our friends planned to leave New York on the morning of September 11, 2001. Of course, they were unable to get out of the city that day, but they eventually made it home safely. We looked at their pictures and video that Thanksgiving weekend when we visited with them. I realized then how close we all came to losing them - if they had gone a day later, they wouldn't be with us now. And I appreciate them all the more today.
I wonder if I'll ever be able to look at a plane flying low and not worry about it. Years from now, I wonder if my kids will ask us where we were on 9/11/01. It will be a defining moment for all Americans that were alive that day. Although we still are threatened by fanatics who have a horrible, skewed interpretation of a peaceful religion, I will never stop being proud to be an American. I am proud to live in a country where I can vote, even if the person I didn't choose wins. I would rather live in a democracy that a dictatorship. That is something the terrorists cannot take away from me.
We also talked to a reporter about what this day meant. I told him we were there to remember the five year anniversary of 9/11/01. It seemed in some ways like it just happened. Although we were fortunate in that we didn't lose any family or friends, we did have one seriously close call. Dear friends of ours and their two sons took a vacation to New York City that weekend. They went to a Yankees game, visited with friends of theirs, and took in all the major tourist sites. On September 10, 2001, they went to the World Trade Center. They took pictures of their kids on the observation deck, and video of the city's skyline. This was probably some of the last footage shot from that building, and I suspect that if historians knew they had it, they would want copies.
Our friends planned to leave New York on the morning of September 11, 2001. Of course, they were unable to get out of the city that day, but they eventually made it home safely. We looked at their pictures and video that Thanksgiving weekend when we visited with them. I realized then how close we all came to losing them - if they had gone a day later, they wouldn't be with us now. And I appreciate them all the more today.
I wonder if I'll ever be able to look at a plane flying low and not worry about it. Years from now, I wonder if my kids will ask us where we were on 9/11/01. It will be a defining moment for all Americans that were alive that day. Although we still are threatened by fanatics who have a horrible, skewed interpretation of a peaceful religion, I will never stop being proud to be an American. I am proud to live in a country where I can vote, even if the person I didn't choose wins. I would rather live in a democracy that a dictatorship. That is something the terrorists cannot take away from me.