With today being the 10 year Anniversary of the September 11 attacks on America I wanted this entry to be reflective on the Anniversary and the losses that American’s experienced that day.
When I was younger I grew up in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and when I was up there I had taken many trips to New York City. We went there for field trips and as I got older just to explore the city. One of the iconic memories I have was looking up at the World Trade Center Towers. Their size was over whelming and the fact that they were offices for enough people that the occupancy was bigger than that of many small towns.
When you stood there looking up you never would have imagined the terror and destruction that would occur. They looked indestructible unfortunately due to the act of terrorism that occurred ten years ago we now know that they are not indestructible.
On that day too many children were forced to grow up too fast, too many children lost one or both parents and too many children won’t even have a chance to meet their parents that lost their lives on that horrible day.
For my children I have waited to allow them to watch any of the tv coverage regarding the tragedy that happened that day. Every year we talk about it and say a prayer for all who were affected by this tragedy. This year we are allowing the kids to watch carefully chosen coverage. We are trying to pick and choose what shows they should and should not watch. We do not want the kids to see some of the images such as the victims jumping or of graphic images of the injured.
Every year on this day there are images that still bring tears to my eyes and I did not know anyone personally that died that fateful day. I don’t want to shelter my kids from the reality of that day but I don’t want some of the images from that day to stay with them. The shows that I am going to allow them to watch this year are focusing on the heroes of 9/11. I want to focus on the everyday people and the emergency personnel that put aside their own fears and safety to help others. I want them to see that no matter the race, age and genders that everyone can be a hero.
One of my sons asked why we don’t close the airports on 9/11 just in case they want to try to hurt us again. This was a tough question for me to answer. I won’t be at a major public event on 9/11, I won’t fly on 9/11 but that is something I did not tell the kids. I explained that Americans cannot allow the terrorist to win. We cannot shut down the country and hide, we cannot hide from fear. When I say I will not go to a major event or fly on 9/11 it is not as much out of fear but out of respect for all those who lost their lives on that day. I will go and bring our local emergency personnel cookies and cards on 9/11. I have also raised my children to tell any person in uniform whether they are military, firemen or police THANK YOU for what they do to keep us safe. This is one thing that I hope everyone can give to their children is the respect for those that risk their lives every day.
When you finish reading this take a moment and remember those that lost their lives and those who are still with us but whose lives are forever changed due to the act of terrorism on 9/11/2001.
God Bless America