9/11, What It's Meant to Me

Has it really been ten years since the attack on the Twin Towers? It doesn’t seem possible. As difficult as it is to believe, it proves that life really does go on. I must confess I’m not watching the ceremony today. I’m worn out from the steady news coverage, flash backs and eyewitness accounts of that fateful day, one decade ago. My head understands that it’s important to remember – after all, British Statesman and philosopher, Edmund Burke, said, “ Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” But constantly watching the devastation played out over and over on television, online and in print is almost too much to bear. Having said all this, I still wish to write my account of September 11, 2001, how it’s changed my life and what it means to me.

A Day Like Any Other, Until...

As we all know, it was morning. It was a beautiful day. I was still living in New York and my kids were small. All was well. I was watching HGTV and oblivious to the goings on of the day. The phone rang and it was my sister. She wanted to know if I was watching television. I said I was but explained I was watching cable television. She quietly told me to switch to a major network and I did.

First One Tower and Then the Other

What I saw was unbelievable and surreal. One tower was engulfed in smoke, but the other one was still untouched. Was it an accident? Like everyone else, I was dumbfounded how any commercial pilot could have managed to fly his plane into a skyscraper on so clear a day. But then something far worse happened. When the other tower was hit and, as the story unfolded and included the incident at the Pentagon, we all knew. Never before had something like this happened on our own soil.

Were We at War?

What did this mean? Were we being attacked? Were we safe? My children were at school. I was panicked. If this was the beginning of a war I didn’t want to be separated from my children. I didn’t want them to be alone and scared. Eventually we were reunited and the rest is history. I was glad we were all safe. My world had been rocked, but not nearly as much as those poor innocent victims and their families; victims whose only transgression was to have the misfortune of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Nor have I had to face the loss of a son, daughter, mother or father who lost a life while fighting on foreign soil.

Ten Years Later...My Son Goes Off to War

My youngest son graduated from Marine Corp basic training two years ago today; on the eight-year anniversary of 9/11. Things have come full circle. Despite my attempt to tearfully dissuade him, he’s joined the service and become a Marine Corporal in the United States Marine Corp. He’ll be deployed in January for Afghanistan to participate in the longest war in U.S. history and as a direct result of 9/11. I can now only hope and pray that all will be well and his graduation was somehow a good omen. God Bless America and God Bless Us All.