September 10, 2002
A Year Ago
A year ago today, we all got up in the morning, went to work, or went to school, and went through our day the same way we do every work/school day, feeling however it was we were feeling. We did our jobs or our schoolwork and we socialized with our friends. We laughed, we cried. We were busy, and we were bored. We were happy, we were sad. We rejoiced when the clock finally hit that hour that signaled the end of our work/school day, and we could go home and kick back. Throughout the day, we liked some people and we hated other people. People pissed us off, and we pissed people off. We spent money, ate food, drank alcohol, had sex, smoked cigarettes, and went to bed, and the next morning we woke up, and our whole world changed.
Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of 9/11. Tomorrow we fly the red-white-and-blue once again, and show our support for our country and our soldiers and ourselves. Tomorrow we will remember people who died horribly - some quickly, some slowly, but all of them horribly. People most of us had never heard of; never knew. People who were not even from our country, but we will honour and remember them tomorrow as we honour and remember our own. We will remember heroes and victims and villains. The men, women, mothers, fathers, secretaries, executives, peons, firefighters, police officers, flight attendants, custodians, and terrorists. All of the above and more perished a year ago tomorrow and brought America to its knees. We Americans are fairly new to terrorism. We see it on the news or read it in the paper every day, but it's always somewhere else. Israel, Egypt, Ireland. It's never here. Even Oklahoma City, as horrible as that was, did little to make America feel vulnerable to terrorism. We were still pretty much fearless.
What these terrorists were trying to do on 9/11 was destroy this country. They wanted to devastate us, divide us, and kill us. They hate us, and everything we stand for. Why? Who knows? They're freaks! They think it's a great thing to commit suicide and take as many other innocent people with them as possible! That's nuts! And, their stupid little plan pretty much failed. Yes, they killed a lot of Americans on 9/11, as well as (let us not forget) people from other countries. Yes, they horrified us, and terrified us, and broke our hearts. Yes, we wept and moaned and grieved. (Many of us still do.) Yes, they brought us, individually and as a nation, to our knees, but not in defeat: in prayer. We went to our knees and prayed to God. We prayed for those who were lost, for those who were hurt, for those who were searching, and for those who were grieving. We prayed to God for the strength to stand back up, brush ourselves off, and move on. God answered our prayer, and we did. We have.
Maybe they didn't realize how resilient Americans are. Maybe they didn't know we'd band together, help each other, and work hard to rescue, retrieve, clean up, and rebuild the damage and devastation they caused. They totally underestimated this country and its people, and that's where the terrorists failed. They failed to realize that we are a strong nation built by strong people from all over the world. They failed to realize that we don't just stand idly by and let terrorists destroy our country and our people. They failed to realize that we weren't just going to lie down and give up. Oh, heck no! We stood up and we came together as a nation! We were united! We helped each other, and supported each other. We gave our money, our time, and our blood. We sang, we danced; we celebrated our lives and our country at the same time remembering and honouring those who had died. We picked up the pieces of that horrible day a year ago tomorrow, and went on with our lives. We flew in planes; we travelled outside the country as well as within our country. We put American flags on our homes, our cars, and our clothing; something that was once considered wrong, is now a strong sign of patriotism. Things change. Times change. People change. We changed on 9/11. We became more aware, we became more diligent, but we also became stronger. We became One Nation Under God, Indivisible more than we have been in a very long time. That is where they failed!
So, tomorrow we will remember and honour and grieve. We will have a moment of silence. We will say our Pledge of Allegiance and sing the National Anthem. We will proudly wear the colours of our flag. We will pray to God in thanksgiving for this great country and its great people, and most especially for His Great Love. We will pray to God for His continued blessings and for the strength to keep moving forward as fearlessly and courageously as we have always done. And, then we will go to work or school. We will socialize with our friends. We will laugh and cry. We will be busy and bored. We will eat, drink, love, hate, piss people off, and be pissed off by other people. We will go to bed tomorrow night and sleep, and Thursday morning we will wake up, and do it all over again. We will live.
God Bless America!
Hez
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Flag border by Frank M. Johnson
God Bless Image Artist Unknown
