I was 19 at the time... a sophomore at college, and on that Tuesday I had a 9:15 flag football class (easy athletic credit and fun too), but I always had to walk to class, so I left my house before 8:45 when the first plane hit. I sat there with one other student wondering where everyone was. The coach was never this late... until another student came up to me and told me what happened. I remember what I was wearing, what the air felt like- that crisp autumn morning.... and I remember running home and throwing on the TV. I sat on the coffee table glued, unsure as to what I was witnessing as I watched the second plane hit the tower. Less than an hour later, I watched horror stuck, like everyone else in our nation, as the towers crumbled.
As the hours passed and even the next few days, as I was just going through the motions of the days, what I saw rise from the rubble was not hatred, but pride in our nation, faith, hope, and love for one another.
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| 1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV |
There are times that I want to complain at the airport about security, or the wait time. or how weird it is that I have to take off my shoes... we all do..... but what if we didnt do those things, and 9/11 happened all over again? Instead of complaining, I and we should be thanking these people for what they do every day. It's hard to remember the wealth of faith and hope we all felt as the flags flew in each yard, on every car window, and in every home. How did that feeling disappear??? Why is it only when bad things happen that we hold each others hands and help?
Tomorrow I will walk into my classroom of 11-12 year olds, who were only babies on that day, who don't understand how much our nation changed on that day. Many don't understand the swell of pride, love and faith that swept our nation. Sometimes, I pray that they never know that feeling, as great as it is, because I pray that something like this NEVER happens again.
I know I will never forget that day. And I pray that instead of remembering the devastation of it, instead we remember what came from it..... FAITH, HOPE and LOVE. But the greatest of these is LOVE. AMEN!
I was with a group of sixth graders and we watched in shock as the second plane hit the tower and the aftermath. Parents came and picked up students very alarmed and we sat glued to the television. That night plans were made to evacuate my family in preparation of the need to do so if KC was hit due to the rail traffic and its location in the heart of the US.
ReplyDeleteI sat and cried when Alan Jackson performed that song live for the first time. I can't adequately describe how it made me feel at the time.