September 11th

Septemeber 11, 2007
Today marks the six year anniversary of the tragic 9/11 events in 2001. I've pondered on it quite a bit today -- this morning when I woke up and then throughout the day at work. This evening I've been watching today's Oprah episode that I recorded, which is a tribute to all of the children who were left behind by a parent who died.

I often think back to what I was doing September 11, 2001 when I first learned of what had been going on. I believe I had heard briefly about the initial events/crash of the first plane while still at home getting ready for work. But what I remember more vividly, is arriving to work and staff having turned on a tv to watch the news. I can remember the focus on the twin towers and the confusion about how a plane could have "accidentally" crashed into one of them. And then as time passed and the additional crashes took place, how scary it was to realize our country was under attack. It was so hard to believe. And it was hard to pull myself away from the tv and do my work. Quite a few of us kept returning to see what the updates were.

I admire the families of those who lost loved ones that worked in those buildings or were on the plane. I think it's much harder to lose someone from such a sudden, tragic event than through other natural causes. But I admire even more, those firemen, policemen, paramedics, and other service workers who put their lives in danger to help others. They knew they were walking or running into a dangerous situation and still bravely did their job. I'm not sure I could have done the same.

My parents used to talk about their memories of Pearl Harbor and what they were doing when they first heard of the attack on our country then. I used to think that our country was invincible to attacks like that ever happening again. But sadly now, I have a memory of my own to relive.