September 11, 2011. Ten Years Later

It's been 10 years since that day. It was yesterday in my mind. I have watched TV most of the day on remembrances and miracles that came from that day. Lost husbands, wives, mothers, dads, sons and daughters.. their survivors talked and their pain is still etched on their faces. Time has gone on but today they remember that what started out as an ordinary day became extraordinary in its horror. I was transfixed by the stories and even though I have heard them nearly every year since that day, I sat here with tears rolling down my face at the loss, the fear, and the bravery. I have listened to Stanley and Brian's story of how Brian rescued Stanley in the South Tower. I am in awe of Brian staying to help a stranger and how that single day has made them friends for life. Midway down they passed a lobby area and came across a guard and an injured man. The man had broken his back and the guard would not leave him and asked that Stanley and Brian would call for help. The injured man asked that they tell his wife and child that he loved them. That guard stayed behind because he would not leave that injured man. Stanley and Brian called EMS but the tower fell before anyone could get there. The guard, and I wish I knew his name, died a hero for his compassion for his fellow man. The men and women on Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pa on that day will always be remembered as courageous. Todd Beamer"s "Let's Roll" will go down as a call to battle, for ordinary people to do extraordinary things. The firefighters, police officers, medics, the search and rescue dogs gave their all. Many gave their lives in an effort to save others. Yes they were doing their jobs but they were extraordinary in their selflessness, in their willingness to run into fire to help others...to give their lives. There is a generation of children who weren't born then. To these young 10 year old children it is an abstract happening. Pearl Harbor happened 10 years before I was born and I remember studying about it and watching history shows but it didn't touch me emotionally like 9/11 has. I want my grandchildren and their children to read my blog books and realize that something devastating happened that day and to never, ever forget. Never to let their guard down and become complacent in their freedom. I want them to know that on that day we stood together as a country, we cried and we mourned our collective loss and we moved on. But we haven't forgotten.