Where Were You When the Towers Fell?

I was up early getting ready to cook breakfast for my Rotary Club. I was doing some pre-preparation in the kitchen. I had CNN on in the living room so I could hear the news while I was working. My coffee was ready and I poured a cup and stepped into the living room to take a minute for myself before I loaded my car. The news alert came on that a plane had just flown into the North tower and there was the footage of the terrible flames. What a terrible accident I thought, how very surreal!  I awoke my room mate and told her what had happened. She stumbled into the room bleary eyed. She wasn’t a morning person. I started loading my car….slowly, even though I was running late it was hard to look away from the terrible scene on television. It was almost daylight and I was usually on the road by now.. I was stopping in the living room each trip I made to stare in horror at the footage. My car was finally loaded up, but by now, I had a tough time pulling myself away from the television. I had almost succeeded when the second plane hit the second Tower. No coincidence …No accident!  I sat down hard and couldn’t tear my eyes away, but I knew I had to. I was already late. I don’t even remember the drive to the center where we held our meetings. I was in the kitchen trying to fix breakfast and everyone was in the secretary’s office huddled around the radio. I would get periodic updates….. And then the unthinkable happened, the first tower fell!

How could that be? I tried to cook but it was hard to see with the tears streaming down my face. I burned the biscuits and the scrambled eggs were brown. It didn’t matter; no one wanted to eat anyway. The second tower went down and we all stood there crying and prayed. I don’t really remember much of the rest of the day, except that there were two more devastating crashes, The Pentagon and that lonely field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania where the Heroes on the plane took matters into their own hands. We had a television at work and watched the chaos all day until it was time to go home and watch some more.

I think we all knew by then that this was not just a bad dream; our lives would never be the same in America. It was time to grow up!

Now I hear that Mayor Bloomberg has said that there is not enough room for Clergy (of any kind) the fire fighters and first responders at the 10 year anniversary. Not enough room? There was enough room on THAT day for all of those Heroes who responded and died saving those citizens trapped in the building. The first counted casualty was a Priest who rushed to the World Trade Center to minister to the injured and fallen and pray for the city. Mayor Bloomberg…Shame on you!

Just my opinion, but turn of events is as wrong as you can get!

As the 11^th grows near, keep all those who were lost in your hearts. And especially, remember those who were climbing the stairs as the workers were going down. Ten years after the fall, it should still take your breath away…Embrace it and take the time to grieve.