Thursday, September 7, 2006

Weekend Assignment #128... Five Years On

Weekend Assignment #128: Share your thoughts about 9/11. You can remember back on what you were doing on the day or give some thought to how we think about it today. Thoughts personal, political or philosophical are all up for consideration. Tell us all what you think about when you think about September 11, 2001.

No extra credit this week; thinking about 9/11 should be enough to keep us all occupied. Write it up in your Journal or Blog, and then come back here and leave a link, so we can all share our thoughts together.

I was working at Kohls' Distribution Center; Cliff and I had spent the previous weekend, I believe, with one of my dearest on-line friends, Lona.  As I worked, I thought back over the trip to Arkansas, and remembered that my friend had plans to fly to visit a daughter on that day.  I vividly recall praying for her safety, and smiling to myself at what a good friend she was.  It was a sunny, lovely autumn day, one of those days so perfect that it hurt.

My assistant supervisor approached me, a lovely young speciman of beefcake with (they tell me) pierced nipples... but I digress...

Aaron came around telling us all that an airplane had crashed into the New York World Trade Center.

Well, bad accidents happen, and I didn't think a lot about it except that I knew it was a tragedy.

But then while my co-workers and I were on break, all of us saw, on television, the other tower collapse, and we heard about an airplane crashing in a field, and something about the Pentagon.

My first thought was, "Oh dear, Lona is flying today!"

As it happened, Lona did get stranded in Texas for awhile, but otherwise she was safe.

When I got home, I heard one of my neighbors had gone a bit crazy and threatened his family (he's no longer a neighbor, or I wouldn't be blogging this).

It was just a bad day in general.

That's how I remember September 11, 2001.  The next year, I wrote a poem about it:

                                        NINE-ONE-ONE
                                      September 10, 2002

Our dreams of peace were shattered on a clear September day
When confiscated airplanes stole our innocence away.
Our prayers and ceremonies won’t undo the damage done,
But I hope all of us have learned some things from nine-one-one.

 I’ve seen the face of terror, and I have just this to say:
Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed; we only have today.
Be kind to those around you.  Live and love, and have some fun…
That’s all a part of lessons I have learned from nine-one-one.

I want to hate the terrorists who did those awful deeds,
And yet, the Bible keeps insisting love is what they need:
Lord, help me forgive them for the awful deeds they’ve done.
Forgiveness is a lesson that I learned from nine-one-one.

This year, we’ve done some extra things.  I bought a new guitar.
We’ve taken some vacations.  I have traveled near and far.
I seen some country concerts:  life is sweet, and too soon done,
And I intend to live it!  I learned that from nine-one-one.

I’ve seen the face of strangers who would risk their lives for me:
I watched them last September, right on nation-wide TV.
I thank God for their courage: that can never be undone:
Thanksgiving is another lesson learned from nine-one-one.

They say that nothing we go through is totally a loss,
Although a lot of lessons have been bought at dreadful cost.
If we’ll just hold our heads up, then our victory’s begun,
And day-by-day, we’ll see more lessons learned from nine-one-one.

If you'd like to share your memories of that dreadful day, be sure and leave a link to your entry HERE at John Scalzi's blog.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was about a half mile from Love Field in Dallas having my pickup worked on.the place didn't have a TV or a radio and I was stuck with no way to go.my wife called me and told me what was happening.wasn't to long and the skies went quiet.my wife worked about a mile from DFW international airport and was used to hundreds of planes a day flying over their building.the entire staff was in the break room watching and she kept calling me telling me what was going on at the time.Debbi had a real hard time working  once planes started flying  again.

Anonymous said...

That was an awful day that we will all remember.
Pam

Anonymous said...

Nice poem..  Five years--I can't believe it's been that long.  It all still so surreal to me, even today.  Julie

Anonymous said...

You did great on your poem. Helen

Anonymous said...

This is one of my favorite Mosie poems.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful poem......those ragheads just don't have a clue.

Anonymous said...

That was an absolutely beautiful poem.  Your post was very good and thoughtful.  Thank you.  You're welcome to check out mine if you want.  Carolyn

Anonymous said...

Excellent post. There are so many things all of us have dealt with since that fateful day. The poem is worth reciting every single year--so none forget.

Thanks for stopping by my journal!

Jess
http://journals.aol.com/aurielalata/CIWTheOtherInvisible

Anonymous said...

wonderful poem, thank you for sharing it  -Kelly  http://journals.aol.com/pixiedustnme/Inmyopinion/entries/2006/09/07/weekend-assignment-128/1374

Anonymous said...

Well that was beautiful...
I was interviewing when it all happened.  Naturally we stopped the interview and watched TV, listened to radio and couldn't wait to get home to our families to watch the news and try and put the pieces together as to what on earth happened.