Five years have passed since the Twin Tower Terrorist attacks. It seems as far as a lifetime ago and as close as yesterday. I have heard people recalling it for days. There have been special ceremonies and marked moments of silence. We observed a moment of silence in school today at 8:47 am, the time the first plane hit the tower.
Lots of people have talked about how 'nine-eleven' changed their lives. I have taken inventory to see how much that day changed my life.
In the immediate, it added sadness for our nations loss, and joy for our nations unity. It prompted prayers and discussions. It fueled our hunger for news (mine began in High School in 1975 when our class on current events scoured Newsweek ever week and I fell in love with the news.) It caused my heart to swell in the devastation and in the heroic efforts of those involved. It even prompted a letter to the editor.
Now, five years out, I look back at those incredulous days.
I can give the short answer. Of course, it changed me. However, it didn't have any lasting profound effect on my life. I still get up and go to work, as always. I still love my children like before. I don't worry anymore than before. I feel we are as safe as we ever were and are ever going to be. I don't fly on any regular basis, therefore the security measures at the airports haven't affected me. I don't dwell on the events of that day, any more than I dwell on Pearl Harbor, D-Day, or any other national day of heroism or attack. They are there to remind me, and around that day, I think about what happened and how it changed our country. I know nine-eleven changed our country as a whole, but don't see the over time long lasting effects it had on my life. I know they are there. I know, in ways I may never know, this day has changed things in my life. However, to look at my life and say, this day, or that day, or any day, made a dramatic change, is difficult.
Change doesn't come in sweeping swoops. It comes in small things. It comes in daily things. Nine-eleven may have been the catalyst for many changes, but I think they were inevitable changes. They were going to be ushered in slowly. The Gov't was going to implement them secretly anyway. Nine-eleven gave them the chutzpah to do it on the 11 o'clock news.
Please don't take this as any attempt to make less of what happened and to make light of any of the lives lost on that day. They were all parts of someone's family, someone's circle of friends. Someone's co-workers, and so forth. I feel for everyone of them. I would give each of them their loved ones back if I could. I am sure they feel just like the mothers and fathers of our sons of Vietnam. Every war has it's casualties. Again, not to diminish the lives lost. This war was brought to our shores uninvited. It came to a new generation. Vietnam was over there. Korea was over there. The Gulf War was over there. For the first time in a long time, Americans were dying, in America.
The long and the short of it is this:
Nine-eleven changed us all. Some it changed individually. Some it changed in the collective way. The sorrow passes. The outrage dies down. The passion wanes. The pain diminishes. When it all gone, only the real changes remain.
Some are just as arrogant. Some are just as mean. Some are just as sweet. Some are just as helpful. ... And a few are different ... Different on an inside level ... That is the slow sweeping change .. The change that lasts .. The change that brings us closer to who we were always meant to be ..
And that makes us all different .. So .. Yes, Nine-eleven changed me.
Lots of people have talked about how 'nine-eleven' changed their lives. I have taken inventory to see how much that day changed my life.
In the immediate, it added sadness for our nations loss, and joy for our nations unity. It prompted prayers and discussions. It fueled our hunger for news (mine began in High School in 1975 when our class on current events scoured Newsweek ever week and I fell in love with the news.) It caused my heart to swell in the devastation and in the heroic efforts of those involved. It even prompted a letter to the editor.
Now, five years out, I look back at those incredulous days.
I can give the short answer. Of course, it changed me. However, it didn't have any lasting profound effect on my life. I still get up and go to work, as always. I still love my children like before. I don't worry anymore than before. I feel we are as safe as we ever were and are ever going to be. I don't fly on any regular basis, therefore the security measures at the airports haven't affected me. I don't dwell on the events of that day, any more than I dwell on Pearl Harbor, D-Day, or any other national day of heroism or attack. They are there to remind me, and around that day, I think about what happened and how it changed our country. I know nine-eleven changed our country as a whole, but don't see the over time long lasting effects it had on my life. I know they are there. I know, in ways I may never know, this day has changed things in my life. However, to look at my life and say, this day, or that day, or any day, made a dramatic change, is difficult.
Change doesn't come in sweeping swoops. It comes in small things. It comes in daily things. Nine-eleven may have been the catalyst for many changes, but I think they were inevitable changes. They were going to be ushered in slowly. The Gov't was going to implement them secretly anyway. Nine-eleven gave them the chutzpah to do it on the 11 o'clock news.
Please don't take this as any attempt to make less of what happened and to make light of any of the lives lost on that day. They were all parts of someone's family, someone's circle of friends. Someone's co-workers, and so forth. I feel for everyone of them. I would give each of them their loved ones back if I could. I am sure they feel just like the mothers and fathers of our sons of Vietnam. Every war has it's casualties. Again, not to diminish the lives lost. This war was brought to our shores uninvited. It came to a new generation. Vietnam was over there. Korea was over there. The Gulf War was over there. For the first time in a long time, Americans were dying, in America.
The long and the short of it is this:
Nine-eleven changed us all. Some it changed individually. Some it changed in the collective way. The sorrow passes. The outrage dies down. The passion wanes. The pain diminishes. When it all gone, only the real changes remain.
Some are just as arrogant. Some are just as mean. Some are just as sweet. Some are just as helpful. ... And a few are different ... Different on an inside level ... That is the slow sweeping change .. The change that lasts .. The change that brings us closer to who we were always meant to be ..
And that makes us all different .. So .. Yes, Nine-eleven changed me.
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