9/11

How can this day just come and go? I don't think it ever will. And I'm sure many people will write something about it....something about where they were or what they remember...something about the people they knew that were directly involved....something.

Of course, I will never forget where I was or what I was doing or where I was living. Something like this is burned into your mind forever. However, I had to go to school that day and teach a group of 3rd graders. It's a totally different ball game then. You want to make sure they understand and you want to make sure they know what happened...but you also want to make sure you want to speak truth without prejudice or personal comments of who did what and why and so on. You take on a sense of responsibility that is different from just reflecting of what happened and what it meant to the US.

So, I think I did not properly grieve until I went to visit Ground Zero 2 years later. Riding the subway down there and seeing that huge gaping hole in the ground with all of the tributes and memories still hung on the chain-link fences. It was like a blow to the gut. All of the kids that are now without a parent or a guardian or a provider or a family member. All of the civil servants and everyday heroes that went IN to the burning, falling building. All of the hate that caused such a tragedy. All of the volunteers that searched for days for survivors. All of the people that gave all they could to help out in any way they could. I couldn't stand there too long because I would have had to just go back to my hotel room and cry for days.

BUT, I know that there has been good that has come from such an event. Personal stories around the country. The unity that they US saw during that time. And so on and so on. It's amazing that what is intended for evil can turn to something good. The United States of America is a wonderful place to be....no matter what.

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