I'm the type who likes to reflect on events. If it's Memorial Day I read a story about a heroic soldier. With the September 11 attacks, for a few years I found it very difficult to rehash what had happened. After watching so much TV coverage and having that event take over for weeks and months, I didn't want to relive pictures of the burning towers. And I'm not even from New York.
As time went on, I started reading the stories. The experiences of first responders are heartbreaking, but incredibly inspiring. I wrote my reflections on 9/11 on the tenth anniversary last year.
 |
| Image: Wikimedia Commons |
The widespread coverage is probably why people like me in the Midwest, who lived nowhere near the attacks in New York (or the Pentagon or Pennsylvania where the fourth plane crashed), felt so connected to the tragedy. We watched it unfold, the horror of it all, on television and online. An attack like that cannot be forgotten, and with it, the images of crumbling towers, people flooding the streets, and firefighters, police and regular citizens covered in dust and debris, unconcerned with themselves in order to save someone else's life. The images of heroism are what I choose to remember, along with how our nation truly felt united--although sadly by tragedy--for a few solid weeks.
Are you observing the 9/11 attacks in any way? Have you come across an inspiring reflection or article? Please share if you have.
Posts
This is the first year I haven't thought about it as much. Probably because I've been at work today. But I do like to take a moment and remember. It is something that will always be with me. And I never want to forget those that were lost and those that were beyond brave that day.
ReplyDeleteI live in Utah and I was in High School at the time, but it still affected me in a way few other events have. I think you're right, a big part of it was watching everything unfold all we did that day in school was watch the news coverage. Such a tragic thing. I think reflecting is the best thing anyone can do. How easily people seem to forget how we stood as one that day.
ReplyDeleteI agree that no matter where you live in the USA, you were affected by that day. It's a day that will stay with me all my life, and not in a good way.
ReplyDeleteI love the 9/11 version of the Rainbow Bridge story, for both dogs and cats. The twist in those versions of the story is that all the people who died so suddenly are going to be the ones to escort the unloved, abandoned, and abused dogs and cats over the Rainbow Bridge, and that finally those animals will have someone to love and cuddle them.
ReplyDelete