My tradition encompasses all of life, day and night, light and dark, even in the most difficult of situations--the imminent and then actual loss of a loved one. My beliefs are there to give me strength, to guide me, and to help me grow and see beyond the loss.
It is my hope that you use whatever words and ideas are helpful to you as we pay honor to all those lost on September 11 and to their survivors who need our support.
If you would like, please share your thoughts, feelings, where you were ten years ago. Sometime the burden is just too heavy to shoulder alone.
I blogged about this too, at www.jenniferwilck.wordpress.com. It's a difficult day and a difficult time, but good came out of it as well.
ReplyDelete@Jennifer Wilck
ReplyDeleteI see by your blog that our feelings are very similar. May you hug your family closer and love them with all your heart.
... Ruth
Two magnificent glass towers, gleaming in the morning sun. One would believe they reflected the power of a nation across the Atlantic, not be vulnerable and fragile enough to disintegrate into mountains of ash. I feel blessed to have been at the base of those iconic structures 4 years prior to their demise. I still remember flying into New York in the late afternoon, the plane rounding the point of Manhattan and those two buildings towering above everything else and appearing so close, you could reach out and touch them. A birdseye view of what the terrorists saw the morning they pummeled the planes through sheets of glass, interrupting innocent lives forever. My brother lives in New York and was teaching at the college downtown, just blocks from Ground Zero. He was among the throngs who walked home over the bridges. It took 4 hours after the attacks for my parents to learn he was safe. He called me later that night for an update of what was happening. He said no one knew what was going on outside the city and were scared to death. He said he felt "trapped," utterly alone and cut off from the world, sitting on pins and needles just waiting for something else to happen.I brought a poster to work the next day that I bought for my son when I was in New York. It was a photograph taken of the city from the point of Manhattan eastward, the Twin Towers front and center. I was the only one in our office who'd ever actually seen them and the whispered, tearful comments all day were of how beautiful they were. Several colleagues thanked me for bringing the poster in so they could see the loss those living in New York were experiencing. They said it gave them something tangible to relate to...something unbroken to replace the horrific images being played over and over by the media. We'll never feel completely safe again and I wonder sometimes if that's why we always feel stressed now, unknowingly frightened that we're running out of "time." Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome never goes away. We just learn to adapt. New Yorkers have perfected the skill and we could all learn a lesson from them. Life goes on, forever changed, but never stopping, regardless. Thank you Ruth. Hugs to all today.
ReplyDelete@J. Coleman
ReplyDeleteJoelene -
Thank you for telling your story. I'm glad your sister and brother-in-law were unharmed.
I'm glad you got to see the towers. Working for a large bank here in NY, at one time we had offices on the 76th floor.
On windy days you had to hold onto your pen. The building swayed (on purpose) just enough to start them rolling. The elevators were like moderate size rooms. They were the largest people carries and held 55 people.
The views were magnificent even in bad weather when you could be above the clouds and see the sun shine.
I was at my office, on the 9th floor, a block away on 9/11. Our building floor to ceiling glass. We watched, unwilling participants, as it all unfolded.
I was able to contact home and let everyone know I was alright. Getting home to New Jersey was a challenge and when I finally did, I held my children and husband close.
Thank you again for sharing, for being a great writing partner, and a good friend.
Like all of you, I've remembered so many things this morning. As we sat on the deck and watched the ceremony, half of mind was there, the other half back in time.
ReplyDeleteI was in Australia. We had gone out and stayed up later than normal. When we arrived home, I turned on the television, and thought my heart was going to stop. They were showing the footage of the plane hitting the first tower. You know how people speak of things slowing down, going in slow motion? That's how I felt...like I was in free-fall. In that moment, the only thing I wanted to do was be home. I had several ask me in the following days, didn't I feel better being in Australia, but my heart, mind, and my words always said no. I wanted to be here so badly it was painful.
I learned a lot that day, but the thing that "came home" more than anything, was no matter what...I would always want to be home. Here. A part of whatever happened to us and our country.
Thank you Ruth for sharing this with your readers. My husband ran for his life that day, out of the Amex Tower as unimaginable things fell around him. I watched the towers in the horizon from my highrise office bldg in New Jersey as one, then the other fell in a cloud of smoke. It took us a full day to get home to Staten Island. I pray for all the families who have lost loves ones, and our military who fight to protect us from such tradegy again. Today, I played lots of games with my boys,kissed them repeatedly, and counted my blessings.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless America.
@Nicole Doran
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad your husband is with you. I hope he's found solace. Thanks so much for sharing and give your boys an extra hug for me.
... Ruth
@Loretta
ReplyDeleteThere is no place like home. It must have been very difficult to watch from afar. Sometimes that's harder than being close by.
Thank you so much for sharing.
... Ruth
Today, for the most part, I have chosen a peaceful, sometimes tearful silence, to reflect, pray and remember.
ReplyDelete@Christina Wolfer
ReplyDeleteIt's been an emotional day with many memorials. I hope you've found comfort.
... Ruth
After 9/11 I was forfrtunate to be able to go to ground zero and serve food to the workers. While we were there, remains were brought out. We all lined whte walkway and wauted in silence until the stetcher left eh area. Very emorional and very heart breaking.
ReplyDeleteI know I will never forget
I also blogged about my memories of that day. I could have shared so much more but it was difficult to write the words.
ReplyDeleteI had thought about not doing it but as the day wore on I felt a need to say something. I think seeing the memorial at our local fire station did it for me.
Here is the link if you care to read it.
http://bttrfly29.blogspot.com/2011/09/where-were-you-on-9-11-2001.html
@Kathye Quick
ReplyDeleteThank you for helping the first responders. I know that must have been a difficult job. I know the workers were thankful for your help.
... Ruth
@Lizzie Walker
ReplyDeleteI know it was a difficult day and I know how compelling you must have felt to write about it.
Thank you for your blog.
... Ruth