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A moment of silence, please.

Julie and I were getting ready for work when her mother called from Cleveland. "Turn on the news" she said in a worried tone that immediately sent chills down my spine. There on the television, the two towers were in flames.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed. Julie rushed out of the bathroom. She was 7 months pregnant with Jacob. Somewhere in the living room, Sophie was probably watching the Wiggles.

Mesmerized, traumatized, we sat and watched as firefighters and police officers attempted battled the flames while the rest of the country... the rest of the world... tried to make sense of it. What the HELL had happened? Word came in about the Pentagon. Then the crash in Pennsylvania. Finally, in horror, we saw the towers crumble into the earth taking the lives of more innocent people with them.

Although I have seen the footage over and over again, I will never forget that moment of disbelief. This isn't real. How can this be happening?

My boss called and told me the office was closed for the day. Julie went into work and soon learned that one of the executives from her company was on one of the planes. Sophie and I stayed at home. I didn't know what to do with myself because I couldn't sit around all day watching the news with a two year old running around. Numb. That's what I remember. Numbness and guilt that I was in a safe place.

I watered the lawn.

The next day, driving to work and stuck in the morning traffic on the 101, I looked around at all of these people in their cars, all of them seeming to be getting on with their lives. Cell phones, makeup and coffee for the morning commute. Were they like me, mystified that across the country our fellow citizens... our brothers and sisters... were digging through the damage, breathing death, and searching for their loved ones while we went about our business?

Nothing made sense. It still doesn't.

I will never understand how killing people justifies anything. Never.

Everything is everything, says Springsteen, but the loved ones from that day who died in moment of hate are still missing.

And they will not be forgotten.

Comments

Ted said…
I was teaching a political science class at the time, and most of the kids who attended class the next day were just waiting for me to explain why this happened. It was tough because most of the kids (who were roughly 18-20) wanted to go out and start kicking some ass. After explaining what I knew about Islamic fundamentalism, there was still anger, but a bit more knowledge about the politics behind it.
Homelight said…
For me - my office had brought a group of people around the state to review violence against women prevention grants. As a state function we were told we needed to end and go home. The group as a whole decided that they needed to stay and finish the task at hand. Whatever happened as a result of this event - would not end the violence against women and children. I remember people talking about Bosnia, Rowanda - the list goes on. And today, six years after - American Soldiers have been on trial for raping Iraqi women; Soldiers returning have turned their guns on their families; and we are still cleaning up the aftermaths of Katrina land.

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