9/11

There was an article in Daily Guideposts that I read earlier this week. It was about how this New Yorker felt - he and his family were in New Hampshire on 9/11. It brought back memories of that day.

The young adults, and even the children, who were alive on September 11 will remember this tragedy in the same way I, and all those who were alive then, remember December 7, 1941.

These two events have reshaped my life and that of many others who experienced those days. We no longer feel like it is impossible for anyone to do such evil things in our very own USA.

It might be more appropriate to write this on the anniversary of 9/11 but I think I need to write about it today. As days pass, some things become less well-remembered.

Don and I were getting ready to go to a Bible study class our associate pastor taught. We were interrupted by the phone ringing. It was Patti telling us to turn on TV. I asked her what station? She said just any station! So we turned on the TV and were just in time to see the second plane hit the tower. We watched, horrified by what we saw.

We called the church and spoke to the associate pastor. She told us to come on to class and we would pray together for the city and the people there.

When people hear and see such horrific sights, we don't always understand exactly what was said and/or shown correctly so that when we pass the information on to others, it is not correct.

I think most of the world must have been glued to their TV sets, watching this tragedy unfold.

These things are not "supposed" to happen in our country! Yet, they did. We are told if we don't know the history of our country, we are destined to repeat the errors of the past and will live to regret not knowing because we will be caught again by the unexpected acts of terror.

All air travel was halted in the days that followed. The skies over the entire country were silent. It was such a strange silence.

The churches were filled to capacity with frigntened people for the first month or so. After a little time passed, those folks who weren't regular church goers reverted to their usual routines that didn't include going to church.

The TV coverage brought this disaster right into our living rooms with 24-hour coverage.

A friend's son lived and worked in New York City. We learned that he was safe but had been able to see it happening from his apartment. The company our son-in-law worked for in Denver had their main office in the twin towers. So many people lost loved ones. It was a difficult time for every citizen of the US.

I remember being very impressed with the New York City Mayor. He was calm and worked tirelessly to keep people as calm as possible. The policemen, firemen, the men from the port authority,and other volunteers really touched me as they worked the long hours looking for survivors

The images of the planes hitting the twin towers, the dust and debris rolling down the streets with people running in front of it, the people covered with dust, the looks of shock - these images may grow dim for me in the future but they will never totally fade away.

I pray that the citizens of the USA never witness such horror again. I pray that this doesn't happen anywhere in the free world.