There can't be much to say about this day of remembrance, except to remember where I was at the time this occurred. I was sitting on the foot of my bed, brushing my teeth as I readied myself to go to work at Old Fort Lauderdale when the first plane hit. I was watching the Today Show and Katie Couric and Matt Lauer, with very somber faces, announced that a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers. A split screen had Matt and Katie on the right and the single burning tower on the left.
Another plane ran into the second tower and exploded. As millions of people watched on their TVs, just like me. I stopped brushing my teeth. And, said out loud, to my dog, " This is no accident." I sat there on the foot of my bed, toothbrush in one hand, crossed legs completely still, glued to the images on the TV for about two minutes. Then it hit me. I spoke, to no one in particular, not even my dog. "There's going to be a whole lot of people who are gonna go through what I went through." That was what I thought about in that moment. The senseless, stupid loss of a loved one was going to pervade the lives of who knew how many people... I know this because I've been there. I've had my entire life turned upside down in a split second because of the stupid, senseless choice of another human being.
For me, it's been almost twenty years. For the victim's families of 9/11, it's only been seven years. While time does make it easier to bear, time doesn't erase the hurt. I'm not sure anything ever does. Meanwhile, we must keep on dancing, doing whatever it takes to survive.
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