September 11

When you mention the date September 11th to an American the first (and sometimes only) thing that will come to their mind is the day their country was attacked.  Almost every American that was old enough to remember the attacks on that day in 2001 remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard the news.  And no matter how many years it has been (11 as of this writing), I could almost bet, that when the anniversary rolls around once again each one is transported right back to that exact time.  That very place.  And they relive it all again.

The plane hit the North Tower, followed not even 20 minutes later by the flight into the South Tower.  Reports came in that the Pentagon had been hit.  Which was almost overshadowed by the images we were seeing : gaping holes torn open in two of the most recognizable buildings in a cityscape full of recognizable buildings, men and women jumping hundreds of feet to escape the inferno that had just invaded their lives, the complete shock of both buildings collapsing inward and downward.  And if that wasn't enough (not enough???), the fourth hijacked plane was heroically overtaken by its passengers and crashed into a field in the middle of America.  It was almost more than the mind could process.  More than we could bear to watch and yet as a collective we kept asking for more.  We needed to see it to believe it.  And still couldn't.  So many images you didn't want to see but could now never forget.

It was something most of us watched unfold on the T.V. or listened to on the radio.

But it was also very personal for too many.  Too many watched in horror as the unthinkable happened.  Too many fled the scene of the disaster while a cloud of thick soot and black smoke chased them.  Too many had to make a death or death decision to let a plane crash into its target or die trying to save hundreds more.  Too many watched from afar as they wondered if the one they loved, the one they were now missing, was going to emerge unscathed.  Too many did not merely watch the unfolding of events as a spectator, they lived them.  Too many will carry the scars of 9/11 forever.  Too many are still paying the price of what happened that day.

But out of all of the atrocities that happened that day and all the evil that showed its face, our country also found its strength, its courage, our collective faith.  This country rediscovered its faith in one another.  In its people.  Our country pulled together to endure the almost unendurable.  We reached out to each other in a time of need and gave everything we had inside of us.

Some gave all.

Some. Gave. All.

And to them, I say thank you, when thank you merely isn't enough.