September 11 2006 . It hardly seems like it's been five years since the World Trade Center & Pentagon attacks . I wasn't aware of this until just the other day when I was looking at a calender at work , but Sept. 11 is now known as "Patriot Day" in the US . It's sad that it takes a tragedy of such monumental proportions to bring people together , but in the end I suppose the costliest lessons are the ones that will stay with you forever .
I remember , like most people , exactly where I was when I heard the news that the first plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers . I had the day off of work and was awakened by the sound of a ringing telephone . It was one of my friends telling me that airplanes were falling out of the skies and one of the World Trade Center buildings had been hit . I jumped out of bed and turned on the television to see the unbelievable sight of black smoke billowing out of the tower . It was so shocking that it didn't seem real . I arrived just in time to see the second plane hit . The worst feeling in the world is complete and utter helplessness , and that was all that I could feel . I could just sit there and try to make some kind of sense of what I was seeing . Gradually more information was released and we learned that it was , in fact , not some tragic accident , but a pre-meditated attack by terrorists . I couldn't fathom how somebody from a place that I had barely even heard of could harbour so much hatred in their hearts that they would wantonly destroy the lives of thousands of men , women , and children and call it an "Holy" action . These weren't soldiers on the frontlines of some war against their country . They were ordinary every day people going to work to pay their bills and feed their families . And now they were gone . In a ball of fire and a shroud of smoke . It was one of those moments when you can feel sorrow for all of humanity .
I have never been to the World Trade Center or The Pentagon . I have never even been to the sight where the plane that was re-taken by the courageous passengers crashed into a nearby field in Pennsylvania . I don't know anybody that died or even anybody who knew somebody who died that day . What I do know is that anybody who sat there with me back in 2001 and watched the towers fall and continued to listen as the number of dead or missing continued to rise with each passing hour will NEVER forget that day. Hopefully we all learned something about ourselves in that moment that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives . So in the end , this senseless loss of life had some meaning and purpose .
I remember , like most people , exactly where I was when I heard the news that the first plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers . I had the day off of work and was awakened by the sound of a ringing telephone . It was one of my friends telling me that airplanes were falling out of the skies and one of the World Trade Center buildings had been hit . I jumped out of bed and turned on the television to see the unbelievable sight of black smoke billowing out of the tower . It was so shocking that it didn't seem real . I arrived just in time to see the second plane hit . The worst feeling in the world is complete and utter helplessness , and that was all that I could feel . I could just sit there and try to make some kind of sense of what I was seeing . Gradually more information was released and we learned that it was , in fact , not some tragic accident , but a pre-meditated attack by terrorists . I couldn't fathom how somebody from a place that I had barely even heard of could harbour so much hatred in their hearts that they would wantonly destroy the lives of thousands of men , women , and children and call it an "Holy" action . These weren't soldiers on the frontlines of some war against their country . They were ordinary every day people going to work to pay their bills and feed their families . And now they were gone . In a ball of fire and a shroud of smoke . It was one of those moments when you can feel sorrow for all of humanity .
I have never been to the World Trade Center or The Pentagon . I have never even been to the sight where the plane that was re-taken by the courageous passengers crashed into a nearby field in Pennsylvania . I don't know anybody that died or even anybody who knew somebody who died that day . What I do know is that anybody who sat there with me back in 2001 and watched the towers fall and continued to listen as the number of dead or missing continued to rise with each passing hour will NEVER forget that day. Hopefully we all learned something about ourselves in that moment that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives . So in the end , this senseless loss of life had some meaning and purpose .