Immortal 9/11 Tribute
RightGirl at Girl on the Right on Sep 11 2008 at 1:20 pm | Filed under: The War on Terror, We Remember 9-11
I nearly slept through it this year. I had my earplugs in, and didn’t sleep well over night, so I was very tardy getting up. Just like that day. In 2001 I didn’t hear the phone ring. Mr. Right did, and came into the bedroom to report the news he had been told over the phone. In 2008, I missed John calling to remind us to lower the flags outside on the lawn.
It’s cloudy today, though. It is not that bright, heartbreaking blue that makes my throat catch no matter when I see it.
Today I have time to sit on the couch and sip my coffee. That day, we dressed and ran to Heather’s, the streets eerily quiet on the way.
There will be more thoughts throughout the day… today belongs to the thoughts and feelings of those of us who watched. Of those of us who lost. Today does not belong to Islam - it belongs to the USA.
So Wendy,
…why do you do it every year? What is the point of putting yourself through the anguish of forcing yourself to face those images one more time?
To remember. Not just to remember the obvious - that we were attacked that day - but to remember every nuance. The color of the sky. The slant of the sun behind the buildings. It was a bit cloudier in Virginia at the Pentagon, but very bright in Shanksville Pennsylvania. The bakery at the end of my street had just taken something with cinnamon out of the oven as I ran by on the way to Heather’s. The general hysteria at the network newsrooms as they struggled to get information. Peter Jennings. Dan Rather. The smell of the barbecue chicken we picked up at the place across the street from Shawn’s. The falling bodies. The cloud of dust. The plaintive calls to TV stations, people wanting to report their loved ones missing. The taste of the Bloody Marys we drank that afternoon. The tea.
To remember the anger and eventual resolve. The pre-9/11 friends who said that America brought it on herself. The crying baby who kept breaking into the solemnity (and the inevitable black comedy) of the evening. That baby won’t remember what happened - but he will have grown up in a post-9/11 world. The dancing Palestinians. The Khadr family. Ken Basnicki and his family, who fight so hard against terror in Canada. Todd Beamer. Let’s Roll.
I want to remember all these things. I torture myself for one day every year, and I keep the burning flame of it with me for the other 364 days. It gives me the strength I need to keep publicizing the issues surrounding this war against Islam. It keeps me from giving up and switching off the TV/computer/radio. It gives me hope that we can win.
The rest of the year, I avoid the images of 9/11. I look away. I cannot bear them. But for one day of the year, I swallow them en masse to steel my resolve. And to soften my heart. People died. Human beings were murdered. I - like many others - often lose sight of that. This one day resets my internal equilibrium and allows me to carry on. This is Patriots Day.
[Remember This Day With Right Girl]
Never Forget…
“The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were……
September 11, 2008…
Where were you? Do you remember this day? Do you feel safer, or do realize this is a dangerous world after all? Do you even care?…Here are some articles along with videos of that horrid day. There shall be no politics today…
[...] Blog - Returning To September 11. (Video) RightGirl - Immortal 9/11 Tribute. (Video) Terry Trippany - Remembering the Victims of 9/11 - We Will Never Forget. (Many links) [...]