We Still Remember

The moment the world changed, I was still tucked safely in bed. The phone rang and from the urgency in my Dad's voice telling me to turn on the TV, I knew something was terribly wrong. However, I would have never imagined the scene I was about to see. Obviously, this must be some awful accident, but that hope was short lived. I will never forget the feeling of shock that we lived with for the first few hours of September 11, 2001. The shock that quickly changed into horror, fear, anger and unimaginable heartbreak.

I was driving to school and remember the exact spot on the road I was when with agony and pain in his voice the radio announcer began shouting that the second tower was collapsing. I remember watching TV and seeing the news anchors sob in silence unable to formulate words to describe the images they were seeing. I remember the nightmares I had following that Tuesday morning, I remember jumping at the sound of jets patrolling the skies. I remember pleading with God for his intervention, and I remember the mental picture of the Lord weeping with us at the devastation of man's free will that is so frequently used for evil.

Do you still remember the unity that came from this catastrophe? I remember almost every car with flags, ribbons and stickers proudly displaying their love of the USA. I remember how perfect strangers were now friendly and talked in line at the grocery store. And perhaps the most memorable was watching the news when politicians put all their agendas, opinions, political party affiliations and differences aside as they joined hands and began to sing "God Bless America."

Here we are seven years later. Today in New York City moments of silence were held at 8:46, 9:03, and 9:59 and 10:29 — the times when two hijacked jets slammed into the trade center buildings and the twin towers fell. Names of the victims were read and family members were allowed down to ground zero to mourn and remember their lost loved ones who were stolen so violently from them.

"Today marks the seventh anniversary of the day our world was broken," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at the start of the ceremony, calling Sept. 11, 2001, a "day that began like any other and ended as none ever has."

Today. services were also held to remember the victims of hijacked planes in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon. At the Pentagon the new memorial was dedicated where President Bush was in attendance. The memorial consists of 184 benches each engraved with the name of someone who lost their life in a single moment on 9/11/01.

Please take time to remember the people who were lost on that tragic day seven years ago. Hug the people you love and tell them how much they mean to you. Take time to care for others in remembrance of those who are no longer with us and out of the unity that was birthed in our nation on September 11, 2001. Thank the heros in your life that you know, the police officers, firefighter and service men and woman. They serve selflessly, but a little appreciation goes a long way.