There is a half hour left to September 11, 2008 but it has taken me the entire day to write something on this seventh anniversary.
Maybe it's because I thought I'd laid those memories to rest, but they all came flooding back as I watched survivors and international college students read the list of names at Ground Zero.
Maybe it's because I'm still angry at George W. Bush for missing the significance of those international students -- that those lost in the towers were from 131 countries around the world.
Maybe it's because I was standing on Madison Avenue when the towers fell, watching a live picture of the towers on a TV screen in a bank window that was being photographed just feet from where I was standing.
Maybe it's because I've written about the day, but not what I experienced and while I want to, I'm not sure I'm ready.
Maybe it's because I went through so many tissues this morning as I watched the ceremony, my head was pounding too much to concentrate.
Whatever the reason, one thing was clear to me today.
When it comes to 9/11, we are all connected.
When it comes to 9/11, we were all there.
3 comments:
You're right. We were all there...and everyone remembers what they were doing when they saw the first image.. I'll never forget either.
It is such a uniting memory...I have family and friends who watched it happen from very nearby as we cried and wondered where they were.
I was inspired by Obama's words last night at the Columbia University event.
I feel included when you say, "we were all there". And you are so right about that! Emotionally the ground shook in Europe too. I phoned my father in Denmark from southern Germany where I live, and we cried on the phone toghether, after having watched the terrible event over and over on TV.
If we remember that feeling of unity across borders, it might not happen again (pray!)
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