never forget.

i know i'm a few days late in writing this post but that's only because i've been immersed since sunday watching programs i recorded from history channel's 9/11 lineup.

there are so many emotions and thoughts i have had over the last few days.  my persepectives, my feelings, my emotions have grown and enlarged and been magnified after so many hours of taking in the story and timelines of that september day. 

i am immensely grateful for the countless men and women who gave their time, talents, and lives to work and help and save so many others, so many strangers.  it is incredible how quick the response was.  i am baffled at the speed of the evacuation of those who were able to get out, the speed of the numbers of firefighters and officers who arrived at the scene upon hearing of the tragedy, the speed and efficiency of work that was accomplished in such a short span of time. 

i am in such awe of the many stories of heroes from the day.  men and women helping each other, escaping down those narrow stairways together, pausing in their own descents out of the buildings to help dig out people who lay buried in the rubble, sharing of their resources.  the heroes of each flight, the crews, the men of flight 93 who did all they could to thwart the intended terrorist plan for that plane and its passengers, who stalled putting their own desperate plan into action until they were flying over a rural area as opposed to one more heavily populated.  the examples are numerous.

i am grateful for those who have been willing to share their experiences, be it through emergency worker radio recordings, voicemail messages that were left by loved ones, home video shot through apartment windows or from the streets below the towers, or their own personal accounts of living through that day.  i am grateful for those who are willing and able to share their stories of unimaginable loss, tragedy, hope, and love in the human experience. 

while the day itself was horrific and unbelievable, the tragedy was far from over once september 12 dawned.  countless faces were searching for loved ones, either in the pit, in the streets, in the hospitals, or by plastering xeroxed copies of posters on any free space in the city.  firefighters worked day and night looking for friends and survivors and hope was alive.  as the days passed, reality set in for all of us.  what started as the site for rescue, in days turned into a job site.  as men and machines removed and cleaned debris, searchers moved onto the landfill to continue the search.  be it for the victims ability to rest in peace or the families of missing persons to have some closure, these workers remained so steadfast and stayed the course. 

the funeral services, the cleanup, the resolve, the patriotism, the unification.  i could go on and on.  do you remember how you couldn't pass a car or house or building without seeing some form of the US flag?  the bumper stickers, the clothing, the antenna flags, we were unified.  i have to say, i haven't stopped to reflect and appreciate with each anniversary as much as i have this year.  i owe it to the programming of the history channel :)  it is true - i have been just immersed and am flooded with gratitude, love, sadness, sympathy and empathy, pride, patriotism, and awe.  we are an amazing country with a rich history.  we have resilience and integrity... we must all do our part to make sure this country continues to stand for something, to stand on the principles from which it was born.

truly - god bless america, land that i love.