Tonight I was out for a walk and as the clouds cleared from the sky, I could see the trails of planes in the sky.
What a difference six years makes.
I thought back to six years ago - as I'm sure you all did at some point today. I thought back to where I was when I first heard the news. I was at work - in a division meeting, actually -and someone from another office came in to tell us that the twin towers had collapsed. I was unaware this nation possessed twin towers and couldn't have begun to tell you where they were located. I didn't grasp the seriousness of any of it until later that morning when I accompanied a friend to the doctor's office and sat in the waiting room, watching TV while she went back into the exam room. For about two hours, I just sat and stared...and wondered what would happen next...and where.
Later that afternoon, I had a dentist appointment, so I spent more time watching TV...and more time wondering. That evening I had a show scheduled (I used to sell stamps/scrapping supplies) - and we decided to go ahead with the show despite the events of the day. I remember stopping at the gas station on the way home and paying only slightly more for gas than we currently pay for it - because every station around here freaked out and I think prices went up to around $4 a gallon.
My parents were on vacation, and I was scared that the whole country would shut down and I'd never see them again.
I watched Oprah this evening and saw some children who faced that very reality that day. Their parents weren't on vacation - but they never saw them again. They were a courageous little bunch...Oprah's guests. They laughed and cried and spoke honestly.
One of the kids said that what happened that day shaped their lives. They all became a little less kid, a little more adult, and much more grateful and determined to honor the lives of those they lost.
And though I didn't lose anyone close to me that day, I know the pain of a life lost too soon. Too unreasonably, it seemed. And those losses have shaped my life too.
My hope is that I won't forget those who passed through my life and out of it all too quickly. I want to remember them as vividly as Oprah's guests remembered their parents who died six years ago. I hope I honor them and the legacies they left behind.
1 hour ago
4 comments:
we talked about where we were on that day in class yesterday and most of my students remembered that they were in thier first grade classroom. i was in a college classroom. we were all in learning environments to get an education - something that those terrorists are against. i'm so glad we live in a free country where we have the right to an education.
I was watching the Today show while getting ready for work that morning and saw the second plane hit the other tower. It was surreal, I felt like I was just watching a movie and it was not really happening. New Horizons had students who parents worked near the towers and the pentagon. I cannot imagine the fear they went through until we were able to contact them. We cannot forget the victims and their families/friends nor the rescue workers that day. And now the soldiers fighting in the middle east, those who have died are victims of that day also. They must not be forgotten. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." ~ John 15:13
Sarah - FIRST GRADE? Man I feel old. I can't imagine trying to manage a class of first graders when something like that is happening in the world! That would take some wisdom.
Tina - Were all of your students' parents safe?
Yes, they were no where near the towers or pentagon that day. In 2005, a student enrolled at NH whose father died in the towers. That is the only person I know who was so closely affected. The student graduated from NH and is attending a Christian college, went on a mission trip this summer and is doing well.
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