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On days like today, Sept. 11th, it's not hard to take a little time to reflect on the incidents of that day.
September 11th, 2001 gives me a lot to reflect upon. On September 1st, 2001, my mother passed away at the age of 51. I still miss her, even though we didn't have the best of relationships. The day of my mother's funeral, I started going back to college at a technical school to get a few tech certifications and a degree in networking.
One of the required "first year" classes was "Introduction to the Internet". It was in that class on that Tuesday morning where I, and the whole class learned of what was going on in New York. It started off as any other normal day. Then, one student had an alert on his cell phone. He quickly apologized for the interruption, then read the alert. He shook his head and mumbled "That can't be right", then shoved the phone back into his pocket. A couple of minutes later, he got another alert on his cell phone. He apologized again, read the second alert, and was visibly shaken. The teacher asked him what was wrong, and he replied that there was "an explosion" at the World Trade Center.
Well, being an Intro to the Internet class, we all had computers at our desks, so everybody fired up their computer and began hitting the search engines. Every site that you could imagine was unbelievably slow, Google, AP, Reuters, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc. When somebody was lucky enough to get a site to load, they would read the story to the rest of the class. We all sat in stunned disbelief at what we were hearing and reading.
About 20 minutes later, the Dean of the school came into the classroom, told us what he knew about what was going on in New York, and told us that classes were canceled for that day and the next. Leaving campus was like leaving a zombie convention. Everyone was visibly disturbed. Some just stood in the halls in stunned disbelief. Some sat in the common areas crying or consoling those who were crying. Some knelt in prayer.
It wasn't until I got home and started watching the news coverage that the full force of what was happening hit me. I went through every emotion that day. Anger that we had been attacked. Sadness for all of the lives lost, and those that were forever changed. Fear and worry for those that I knew in the New York area whom I couldn't get ahold of. It was a roller coaster of emotion.
And it's on days like today where I go through the roller coaster of many of the same emotions. Sadness for all of the lives lost, and those that were forever changed. Fear and worry that one day my children, or their children may face such a situation. And, anger, that 7 years later, we are no closer to bringing those responsible to justice than we were on that sad day 7 years ago.
Let us never forget those innocent victims who perished.
Let us never forget those brave Police Officers, Firemen, and Paramedics that ran into danger to save lives.
Let us never forget those selfless volunteers who gave their time and money in the rescue and recovery efforts.
Let us never forget those soldiers who are willing to put their lives on the line in defense of this country and our way of life.
And let us never forget the families and friends of those who made the ultimate sacrifice on that day, and the days, weeks, months, and years since that day.
September 11th, 2001 gives me a lot to reflect upon. On September 1st, 2001, my mother passed away at the age of 51. I still miss her, even though we didn't have the best of relationships. The day of my mother's funeral, I started going back to college at a technical school to get a few tech certifications and a degree in networking.
One of the required "first year" classes was "Introduction to the Internet". It was in that class on that Tuesday morning where I, and the whole class learned of what was going on in New York. It started off as any other normal day. Then, one student had an alert on his cell phone. He quickly apologized for the interruption, then read the alert. He shook his head and mumbled "That can't be right", then shoved the phone back into his pocket. A couple of minutes later, he got another alert on his cell phone. He apologized again, read the second alert, and was visibly shaken. The teacher asked him what was wrong, and he replied that there was "an explosion" at the World Trade Center.
Well, being an Intro to the Internet class, we all had computers at our desks, so everybody fired up their computer and began hitting the search engines. Every site that you could imagine was unbelievably slow, Google, AP, Reuters, CNN, MSNBC, Fox, etc. When somebody was lucky enough to get a site to load, they would read the story to the rest of the class. We all sat in stunned disbelief at what we were hearing and reading.
About 20 minutes later, the Dean of the school came into the classroom, told us what he knew about what was going on in New York, and told us that classes were canceled for that day and the next. Leaving campus was like leaving a zombie convention. Everyone was visibly disturbed. Some just stood in the halls in stunned disbelief. Some sat in the common areas crying or consoling those who were crying. Some knelt in prayer.
It wasn't until I got home and started watching the news coverage that the full force of what was happening hit me. I went through every emotion that day. Anger that we had been attacked. Sadness for all of the lives lost, and those that were forever changed. Fear and worry for those that I knew in the New York area whom I couldn't get ahold of. It was a roller coaster of emotion.
And it's on days like today where I go through the roller coaster of many of the same emotions. Sadness for all of the lives lost, and those that were forever changed. Fear and worry that one day my children, or their children may face such a situation. And, anger, that 7 years later, we are no closer to bringing those responsible to justice than we were on that sad day 7 years ago.
Let us never forget those innocent victims who perished.
Let us never forget those brave Police Officers, Firemen, and Paramedics that ran into danger to save lives.
Let us never forget those selfless volunteers who gave their time and money in the rescue and recovery efforts.
Let us never forget those soldiers who are willing to put their lives on the line in defense of this country and our way of life.
And let us never forget the families and friends of those who made the ultimate sacrifice on that day, and the days, weeks, months, and years since that day.
