Thursday, September 11, 2008

It was a day like any/no other...


It was a starkly beautiful day, blue on blue skies probably average for the time of year. It was primary day I remember. I was in the throws of the latest project at work, whatever it must have been. I remember the internet was unusually slow as I tried to find out about what my wife had called me about. Pictures were just starting to become available on the internet, in a format that didn't take 2 hours to load at least. I remember hearing more and realizing that something was terribly wrong.

I remember the person who told me the South Tower had collapsed; I remember telling people about the Pentagon. I remember them calling us into the largest meeting room we had and saying we should all go home, be safe...and pray.

When I got home, I remember finding a dead kitten in the road in front of our house and being so numb to it as I moved it into the bushes. I remember telling my kids what had happened and saying that what happened today could never be underestimated. I worried about my family, they country and the world.

I remember all the firefighters, so many firefighters, that were lost. I remember the candle I set out on a rock outside every night for days on end in the hopes that it might help find someone alive in the rubble. I remember finding out about Father Mychal Judge from the picture of him being carried out of the rubble; the priest only trying to minister to the injured and giving last rights to the firefighters he worked with. I saw hundreds upon hundreds of picture that disturbed me to the bone; of the attack, of the people, of the masses of humanity dazed, bewildered and obviously changed.

I remember the quiet at night from the lack of planes in the sky over the following weeks. I remember the static I heard instead of radio station which had lost their signal that was on the radio tower. I remember the lack of Channel 13 on TV for the same reason and the total lack of commercials for weeks. I remember the eerie quiet at night from the lack of airplane activity, and the times I did hear the sounds of F16's. I remember averting my eyes from the skyline when I drove to spots where I could see a gap in the way I expected to see it.

I guess this is not much of a tribute to those who lost their lives that day, God knows I've never looked at firefighters the same way again. I just wanted to put down what will probably be ingrained in my mind for the rest of my life, for the rest of all our lives. God Bless America and never forget...

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