Remembering 9/11

I don't know anyone first hand who died in the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center Towers. Nor anyone who died in the Pentagon crash or on the lone plane that went down in a Pennsylvania farm field. I only know people who knew people who died. I remember exactly what I was doing that day. I had taken the day off from work to attend a riding clinic in Woodstock, Vermont. And after the morning lesson I returned to the truck and did something I don't normally do. I turned on the radio. What I first heard on VPR was so foreign and so jarring; I couldn't put the pieces together. Words like attack, planes, fire, rubble, thousands dead, buildings destroyed, terrorists, New York City all roared from the radio. Who could fathom the World Trade Towers falling; I did not think such a thing was possible on American soil.

The real horror of the day hit me when I finally arrived home and dove for the TV where moment by moment over the next few months every photo, film and tragedy was played from every angle. Each year on the anniversary of 9/11 I glue myself in front of the TV and radio and relive that day. If only just to remember the people whose lives were taken on that day, and the heroes that emerged; for there were many. My favorite link for 9/11 is on the History Channel in their film called 102 Minutes that Changed the World. If you missed it on TV you can watch the different clips directly on their website. Just click the link above to remember that day, for both the worst and best of humanity. The video below is a Memorial video of that day.