It's weird to think that horrible day we all experienced together was 2 years ago. I don't think I'll ever forget my reaction, my thoughts, my feelings...our pain that day. Ever. I awoke this morning at like 5 am to get something to drink and happened to switch on the tv to bide my time. There were those images again...2 years to the minute. So much has changed. Or hasn't changed.
My friend sent me this and it encompasses everything i feel about September 11th. It's lengthy but I hope it has the same effect on you as it does for me:
I just wanted to write for a moment, and say hello, and wish you peace on this anniversary of 9-11. Each year, I think its not going to effect me. Each year, I think Im past the point of tears in regard to this day of recent history. And this year, just like last year, Im surprised at how wrong I am. Inevitably I hear something or see something that puts the thoughts and feelings of that day squarely back in my mind.
It is easy to forget. It is easy for that day to be overshadowed by all that has come since...two wars, debate over civil liberties, color-labeled threat levels, missing weapons of mass destruction, countries with new nuclear capabilities, and on and on and on.
I am at work today. Where are you? Part of me feels like I should take off from here, and go be with my thoughts, and reflect on the thousands who perished two years ago. Instead, I will be content with remembering, writing this letter, and talking about it.
The fact is, I didnt lose anyone personally on 9-11. I didnt know anyone who lost anyone on 9-11. But I know how I felt that day. I felt the horror of it, and yes, the wonder. I felt my world collapse that day, because THE world collapsed that day. The brutality, the disbelief, the terror in the eyes of everyone I saw and spoke to.
But more than that, the thing I want to remember was the focus and clarity of that day. Work didnt matter. School didnt matter. Toys and trinkets and cars and money didnt matter. All those things that we elevate to a ridiculous level of importance on every day...simply disappeared. Instead, we were witnesses to humanity at its absolute best in the shadow of its absolute worst. The people of New York came together in the face of fear and stood united in order to persevere through the darkest of days together. The people around me reached out to touch one another, because nothing else really mattered save that.
What is true is that Ive lost something SINCE 9-11. The events of the world arent forcing me to examine those things that are important on a daily basis, and it becomes so easy just to put them aside. But what would happened if I died tomorrow, if you did, if the person you loved did. What was important today? Is it the same thing that was important two years ago when the evil of men and collapsing towers forced us to look inside? Do you know? Do I?
My 9/11 will be spent right here, at work, surrounded by people like me, and dislike me. Will we talk? Will we share? Will we even notice each other today? That choice is mine, as it is yours. But personally, I challenge myself to talk to the people around me today. To see whats important to them right now, to see if theyre hurting, if theyre happy, if theyre in love, if they have lost someone close to them, or theyre lost. To make them smile for a moment, if just for a moment. To connect on a level thats more important than work, or school, or toys, or money. To say hello Im human today...how about you?
I hope you find this letter in the spirit it was intended. I wanted nothing more than to say that to all of you right now. Hello Im human today.
I will be here, at work, and remembering. All that was lost that day, and all that was gained. And I will try to remember too that it is our choice if what was gained and what was lost will stay that way for me. I choose today, to remember.
How about you?
John
I remember. I will always remember...till my very last day.
My friend sent me this and it encompasses everything i feel about September 11th. It's lengthy but I hope it has the same effect on you as it does for me:
I just wanted to write for a moment, and say hello, and wish you peace on this anniversary of 9-11. Each year, I think its not going to effect me. Each year, I think Im past the point of tears in regard to this day of recent history. And this year, just like last year, Im surprised at how wrong I am. Inevitably I hear something or see something that puts the thoughts and feelings of that day squarely back in my mind.
It is easy to forget. It is easy for that day to be overshadowed by all that has come since...two wars, debate over civil liberties, color-labeled threat levels, missing weapons of mass destruction, countries with new nuclear capabilities, and on and on and on.
I am at work today. Where are you? Part of me feels like I should take off from here, and go be with my thoughts, and reflect on the thousands who perished two years ago. Instead, I will be content with remembering, writing this letter, and talking about it.
The fact is, I didnt lose anyone personally on 9-11. I didnt know anyone who lost anyone on 9-11. But I know how I felt that day. I felt the horror of it, and yes, the wonder. I felt my world collapse that day, because THE world collapsed that day. The brutality, the disbelief, the terror in the eyes of everyone I saw and spoke to.
But more than that, the thing I want to remember was the focus and clarity of that day. Work didnt matter. School didnt matter. Toys and trinkets and cars and money didnt matter. All those things that we elevate to a ridiculous level of importance on every day...simply disappeared. Instead, we were witnesses to humanity at its absolute best in the shadow of its absolute worst. The people of New York came together in the face of fear and stood united in order to persevere through the darkest of days together. The people around me reached out to touch one another, because nothing else really mattered save that.
What is true is that Ive lost something SINCE 9-11. The events of the world arent forcing me to examine those things that are important on a daily basis, and it becomes so easy just to put them aside. But what would happened if I died tomorrow, if you did, if the person you loved did. What was important today? Is it the same thing that was important two years ago when the evil of men and collapsing towers forced us to look inside? Do you know? Do I?
My 9/11 will be spent right here, at work, surrounded by people like me, and dislike me. Will we talk? Will we share? Will we even notice each other today? That choice is mine, as it is yours. But personally, I challenge myself to talk to the people around me today. To see whats important to them right now, to see if theyre hurting, if theyre happy, if theyre in love, if they have lost someone close to them, or theyre lost. To make them smile for a moment, if just for a moment. To connect on a level thats more important than work, or school, or toys, or money. To say hello Im human today...how about you?
I hope you find this letter in the spirit it was intended. I wanted nothing more than to say that to all of you right now. Hello Im human today.
I will be here, at work, and remembering. All that was lost that day, and all that was gained. And I will try to remember too that it is our choice if what was gained and what was lost will stay that way for me. I choose today, to remember.
How about you?
John
I remember. I will always remember...till my very last day.
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I'm not good at the rah-rah and I'm not good at the corporate... thank gawd it only happens twice a year. Most of the time, we're working in a pretty tight, isolated environment, far away from the corporate and the politics and the rah-rah-rah.
Let me know if you want to go get a drink or something with me and bean and other SGLA folk.. I'll be out visiting from the 19th to some questionable date.