Unforgettable Tuesday

In about 8 hours, our minds will be reunited with a day that is emblazoned on hearts. Some will remember this day well. Others will remember some of it. And much younger generations will not remember it all. Some will take a moment to give tribute, while others won't think more than a second past its significance. It's been 15 years, but I remember that Tuesday morning like it was yesterday. I remember the horror and shock in our eyes when we heard the darkest news our country had ever known since one Sunday in December 1941. My story of that unforgettable Tuesday is like many you've heard. I wasn't in New York City. I didn't see it unfold by live footage. I heard about it on our way to a field trip. I remember as a 14-year old girl not really understanding at first what this news meant. I don't think I fully understood until I saw the footage of aircrafts being forcibly flown into New York's two tallest buildings and the heartbreaking explosions as a result. My only experience of these towers were during the two times I visited New York with dad on his business trips. My regret today is that I never had the opportunity to go inside these towers.

I remember the screams of horror and voices of fear on my TV screen that day. I remember the images of grey smoke and papers soaring through the air and the moment when the South Tower came down. I remember the many helpless and yet, brave people who jumped to their deaths. I remember President Bush's tears and his words of encouragement he bestowed on us Americans. I remember the heartbreak and worry in the hearts of my fellow-citizens. I remember their stories. I remember it all and I've never forgotten.

The United States came together as one for the first time in 60 years. We claimed we would never forget September 11, but I am very afriad that we Americans have forgotten. We have moved onward, leaving it all behind us like something unimportant. We have forgotten the many men and women who gave up their lives for our fellow-Americans in those three burning buildings and one Pennsylvanian field. We have lost sight of what it means to come together in prayer and unity. We have forgotten the fear and horror in the eyes of those who lost their lives on those four flights and their determined spirit to fight back at the enemy. We have forgotten the flying debris and the people running for their lives. We have stored the 9-11 attacks in the box of archives and have moved on to our hatred and defiance for right or the left wing. We have let go of what held us together. We no longer pray as one nation or respect each other. We are no longer kinder or humbler today than the terrorists who knocked down those buildings all those years ago.

What would happen if this happened tomorrow? How we could respond? How would we treat each other? Would we pitch in and help? Would we give back to our fellow-citizens? Would we put our own lives on the enemy line? Would we fight back? Would we be His hands and feet to the hurt and brokenhearted? Could we lay aside the color of our skin and embrace the value of our neighbor's life? Could we look past our differences and acknowledge the needs of the helpless? The veil of peace that we hung that Tuesday has been torn down by our hatred, political correctness, racial defiance, greed, self-centeredness, ridicule for the opposing party, and blame for the one in office. Instead of learning from this unfortunate event and seeing the beauty it has brought our country, we invent ideas of how it was all conspired by our government. I don't know what others believe happened that sad Tuesday morning, but I do know that it pierced our hearts more than it did those towers and is branded on our souls as the moment our country stood taller than America's tallest buildings in the face of fear, heartache, and loss.

About a month ago, as I started writing this post, I started re-watching speeches, footage from that Tuesday, and the prayer service at the National Cathedral on September 14. It has been years since I watched all that, but I went away feeling quite grave about our country today. We have forgotten what we learned and even gained from that week in September. We pulled together as one nation and upheld American values, freedoms, rights, and truths. Countries from all over the world prayed for us, respected us, and honored us. We embraced our humanity and our differences. What are we doing today? Let's take a moment today to reflect on those who died, those who survived, those who devoted weeks of their time helping recover bodies through the rubble, and those who lost family and friends that day. Let's remember so that we never forget what this country did on one of America's saddest days and how there is beauty out of all those ashes. This November let's lay aside our hatred, differences, and defiance and learn to remember why we stood together in the face of tragedy and evil and how we rose out of that to shine brighter and taller. In the words of Emma Lazarus, "I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

*This post was drafted in July 2016 & completed in its entirety on September 11, 2016.