9/11

[WriterDom]

This morning has opened up old wounds. I didn't give it much thought till I turned on the tv and read the paper. Then the sadness and grief rolled through me like a dark wave. I'm better now. I'll go about my business and maybe find some time later to walk the fern lined trails of my mountains. Not so much to think, but just to be.




Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble, it's a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantement, it is as perrenial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann

 

[artful]

Thanks WriterDom

Copied and Pasted!

 

[CarolineOh]

I thought I'd be fine today, but I just read and posted to the "Where were you" thread on the GB and I wept as the memories rushed back so strongly.

Thank you, WD, for sharing those words of strength and hope.

 

[zipman]

This morning has opened up old wounds. I didn't give it much thought till I turned on the tv and read the paper. Then the sadness and grief rolled through me like a dark wave. I'm better now. I'll go about my business and maybe find some time later to walk the fern lined trails of my mountains. Not so much to think, but just to be.

I know how you feel WD. That same wave has rolled over me. It still is. I had to travel for work today so I am in Memphis. I feel tremendously guilty that I am not at home in NY, grieving and sharing with my family, friends and neighbors.

The grief and pain for lost friends and those I never knew but whose stories I read about has come back much stronger and harder than I was expecting. That and the tears. The anger will come back to. And the rage. But that will be later, now, it just the pain and the sadness.

Thanks for the post WD.

 

[Cirrus]

You're not alone...me too. I thought I'd be fine last year, until 3 or 4 days later when the reality of what had happened sunk in. I'm far removed from New York or any big city for that matter, but the ties that bind us all as human beings don't know geographical boundaries.

 

[A Desert Rose]

No American will ever forget the impact of this day. This day changed and steeled the psyche of most all of us.

I can deal with the grief and sorrow. It's the anger that I still cannot seem to control.

 

[Red Menace]

When I turned on the news that morning, it took a few minutes to comprehend what I was seeing and that it was real. And really happening right here in this country. A sense of security was shattered in a way that can never fully be rebuilt. It took a few more days for the full impact and implications to sink in.

It makes my heart go out to other countries that experience death and destsruction on a large scale every day. For the first time ever, I knew what it is like to feel the uncertainty of life, the tenuousness of security and the fleeting nature of strength.

 

[monster666]

on today

I have deliberately avoided the radio and television today. Today is not 9/11/2001, and I don't care to wallow in 9/11/2001. This is a different day, and hopefully, a much better day.

I wish we could remember people lost and heed the lesson learned without paying so much tribute to the events of that day. I can't help feel (even as I hear how we are some sort of code orange alert level, yet another rediculous, meaningless warning system seeming to draw validity from a familiar parking garage metaphor meant to replace another equally meaningless numeric system) that every time we have another ceremony or alert, it adds to the impact of the despicable act. The perpetrators will celebrate to the extent that we mourn.

Humbug. Do what we must to protect ourselves, and then lets just live free the best way we can. That's the ultimate method available to flip the motherfuckers the bird.

 

[Lancecastor]

For decades, I've seen news stories of various terrorist bombings on TV, mostly the ones in the Middle East and Ireland.

After a while, sad to say, you actually get used to the big public funerals, and marches, and shots of people weeping and mourning, the anger, threats, promises of reprisals,coverage of the follow-up revenge bombings and shootings, etc.

Though I've been shot at a couple of times, have watched people die, and was close enough to the SwissAir crash off Nova Scotia to feel the *whump* when it hit the water, I'd never felt the effects of individual or mass fear quite so poignantly until this day last year.

Last November I watched USAF F-18's doing extra daily patrols along the beaches of the Outer Banks of North Carolina during US Thanksgiving and felt a sense of pride.

Last weekend I attended a military airshow and noticed pride, but also felt a sober reflection off the crowd.

I sincerely hope that the USA decides not to escalate its feelings of anger and revenge to justify unilaterally bombing more countries in the coming weeks and months.

I had friends in the WTC. I have friends in Ireland. I have friends in Iraq, Iran and Kuwait.

This is a good day to gently remind the USA that we all live in what can be a very dangerous world. Creating hope for a better tomorrow rarely comes by looking at the world through vengeance-tinged crosshairs.

As is the case when I see repeated clips of Palestinian mourners on TV, I'm choosing not to watch any more today as I've seen enough.... Out of respect for not just the dead, but the living as well.

Lance

 

[lorddragonwolf]

today at work we had a moment of silence, followed by the song GOD BLESS AMERICA.but it was when Taps was played that i broke into tears.

a fellow co-worker lost her cousin and his wife when the planes hit the towers. one worked in each tower. thank god that there children had been left at home with a babysitter because they where sick.

this has hit many of us in a way that we will never forget.

 

[monster666]

Exactly.

As is the case when I see repeated clips of Palestinian mourners on TV, I'm choosing not to watch any more today as I've seen enough.... Out of respect for not just the dead, but the living as well.

Lance

 

[redelicious]

I have thought about and posted all over the playground what today means to me. I feel like I have nothing left, except to wish you all peace . . .

 

[SexyChele]

I have to second the thoughts of Monster666. Yes, the dead and injured and their families should be remembered. The memory of a lost one dying such a horrific death never truly fades. And there are many who carry the physical and emotional scars of the events of that day.

But we triumph when we live - not mourn. Many people that I've talked to today say they feel everything from sad to depressed. It's no wonder. The media refuses to let the American people heal from this. The constant battery of "news related" items gets to the point where one simply turns off the set.

I feel it is time to set the mourning rags aside, while not forgetting the dead. Let us live, not wallow in death and destruction. The enemy sits back and watches and laughs. We give them fuel to do so. Every time we put on our sad faces, we let them know they won.

Certainly I shall always think of this day a little differently. It's inevitable. Just as with the Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine shooting, and many, many other days that affected lives all around our country. But I don't dwell. I live. And enjoy each and every day given to me, knowing tomorrow I might not be here.

 

[cymbidia]

I have deliberately avoided the radio and television today. Today is not 9/11/2001, and I don't care to wallow in 9/11/2001. This is a different day, and hopefully, a much better day.

This is a good day to gently remind the USA that we all live in what can be a very dangerous world. Creating hope for a better tomorrow rarely comes by looking at the world through vengeance-tinged crosshairs.

Kudos and hearfelt agreement from me to both of you.

As i sit here typing these words, i can see flags lining the streets of my small liberal northern California town. They're municipal flags, fixed into permanent holes in the cement of the sidewalks. I've seen them out for Memorial Day and the 4th of July and Labor day and other holidays of that ilk. Now it seems there's another day they'll be out: September 11th.

In a few hours, i'll go pick my kids up from school, my son from his kindergarten class and my daughter from her first year of high school. When we come home, i think we'll take a walk and count the flags. We'll walk up this side of the street and down the other, counting and talking. We'll talk about heros and how what one person does can matter. We'll talk about being a good person and making humanistically moral decisions in a sometimes scary world.

And then we'll come inside and i'll probably begin making dinner. The little boy will watch cartoons and the big girl will do homework. Later, perhaps, we'll all watch a movie together, something we have on DVD, not something on TV.

I lost a first cousin who was working in the second tower on this day last year.







edited to add a link to this thread posted near this day, last year:
http://www.literotica.com/forum/showthread.php?postid=2673024#post2673024

 

[MissTaken]

I have been very busy today.

HOwever, when things are quiet, I feel numb, a bit sad and some of the same feelings I felt a year ago.

It is up to the US and all victims of the attack to make something good come of the 9/11 tragedies. However, vengence isn't the way.

It also saddens me that it took so many lost lives for Americans to find the desire to fly their flag. The show of patriotism is heart warming and sad at the same time.

There can be no winners.
Everyone's lives are forever touched by 9/11.

 

[Persephone36]

Re: Re: 9/11

I know how you feel WD. That same wave has rolled over me. It still is. I had to travel for work today so I am in Memphis. I feel tremendously guilty that I am not at home in NY, grieving and sharing with my family, friends and neighbors.

Oh, Zip -- I didn't realize you weren't here today when you posted. I'm sorry.

Eerie day in NYC. The weather *so* close to exactly what is was last year. But you know, it was wonderful to be in the city. Everyone wearing small ribbons, or in typical NYer fashion, decked out in flags in other ways. I was standing near Jefferson Market in Greenwich Village when they rang the bells at 12:00 noon. It was quietly beautiful and moving and it just felt good to be a New Yorker. There was this open view I had down sixth avenue to where you used to be able to see the Towers so clearly. A Fireman in dress blues walked past me heading back up from the downtown ceremonies. And I just thought...

This city ROCKS.

Everyone going on -- living life. That's what it's all about. We recover from destruction by rebuilding. It's important to grieve and mourn and own your feelings. But it's also a great feeling to know that we honor those who lost their lives best -- by celebrating our own. Life's to be lived. With all it's ups and downs -- but to be grasped with both hands -- and not to be let go of until we have to.

Perse

 

[CatEyes]

Re: on today

I have deliberately avoided the radio and television today. Today is not 9/11/2001, and I don't care to wallow in 9/11/2001. This is a different day, and hopefully, a much better day.

I wish we could remember people lost and heed the lesson learned without paying so much tribute to the events of that day. I can't help feel (even as I hear how we are some sort of code orange alert level, yet another rediculous, meaningless warning system seeming to draw validity from a familiar parking garage metaphor meant to replace another equally meaningless numeric system) that every time we have another ceremony or alert, it adds to the impact of the despicable act. The perpetrators will celebrate to the extent that we mourn.

Humbug. Do what we must to protect ourselves, and then lets just live free the best way we can. That's the ultimate method available to flip the motherfuckers the bird.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who feels this way. All day I've been wondering why I felt like this and feeling somehow that I'm being a bitch because I don't want to dwell on it.

I don't want to relive it, it was bad enough the first time. I'm not likely to ever forget and I don't need to have the pain, fear and anger brought back just when I'm finally starting to feel a measure of peace and security.


CatEyes

 

[morninggirl5]

All gave some. Some gave all. Some still give.

"The Last Fallen Hero"
by Charlie Daniels

Oh the cowards came by morning and attacked without a warning
Leaving flames and death and chaos in our streets
In the middle of this fiery hell brave heroes fell

In the skies of Pennsylvania on a plane bound for destruction
With the devil and his angels at the wheel
They never reached their target on the ground
Brave heroes brought it down

Chorus:
This is a righteous cause so without doubt or pause
I will do what my country asks of me
Make any sacrifice
We’ll pay whatever price
So the children of tomorrow can be free
Lead on red, white and blue
And we will follow you until we win the final victory
God help us do our best we will not slack or rest
Till the last fallen hero rests in peace

Now the winds of war are blowing and there’s no way of knowing
Where this bloody path we’re traveling will lead
We must follow till the end
Or face it all again

And make no mistake about it, write it, preach it, talk it, shout it
Across the mountains and the deserts and the seas
The blood of innocence and shame
Will not be shed in vain

Chorus:
This is a righteous cause so without doubt or pause
I will do what my country asks of me
Make any sacrifice
We’ll pay whatever price
So the children of tomorrow can be free
Lead on red, white and blue
And we will follow you until we win the final victory
God help us do our best we will not slack or rest
Till the last fallen hero rests in peace

God help us do our best we will not slack nor rest
Till the last fallen hero rests in peace

 

[luvsubbbbb]

I sincerely hope that the USA decides not to escalate its feelings of anger and revenge to justify unilaterally bombing more countries in the coming weeks and months......................

I had friends in the WTC. I have friends in Ireland. I have friends in Iraq, Iran and Kuwait......................

This is a good day to gently remind the USA that we all live in what can be a very dangerous world. Creating hope for a better tomorrow rarely comes by looking at the world through vengeance-tinged crosshairs................

Lance

i can tell that your words are very solemn and sincere, Lance, and i agree with you insofar as vengeance should NOT be the motive for US unilateral action in the coming days/weeks.....

my work took me to the US last Sept 11.......i was driving to a customer in central NJ when the first plane hit the WTC ........and that afternoon found me driving to Washington DC to pick up my car which was being serviced there that day.........it was a very tragic day in American History........and sad day in the History of the World......

i was also in the US on the Sunday in October when Bush gave the green light for the aerial bombardment of Afghanistan to begin........i stood outside Macy's in Manhattan on a crisp autumn day with an incredulous look on my face as i watched thousands of Peaceful Protestors jam the streets in front of me denouncing the American action.......all i could think of was that they were WRONG if they felt that they OWNED the moral highground that day......as NO citizen of the democratic world supports war and killing.........for even those who believe that Americas War on Terror is the ONLY way to fight this evil would rather talk about love than die on the battlefield............

America is NOT a trigger happy war-mongering nation.....and we ALL are against senseless killing for killings sake.....but to bury ones head in the sand and say that "2 wrongs dont make a right" (AS IF killing terrorists and those that sponsor them is the same as killing innocent civilians) is shortsighted naivete, i am afraid..........and foolhardy

if America does NOT stand up and fight those leaders and nations who do NOT value human life with ALL its might, than she will have NO future........

and, sadly, neither will the rest of us who rely on the USA to do our dirty work while we mouth motherhood and applepie platitudes to those who STILL wish to do us harm .........

and, when "they" have amassed sufficient chemical weapons, and weapons of mass destruction.... and when "they" see that we have no backbone.......and no resolve......"they" will strike.......and by then it will be too late........

(geez.......and i thought i was a Canadian liberal....oh well.....not today, i guess.......)

 

[Daddyslilpet]

This sums up how I feel/felt today....

"God Bless the U.S.A."
by: Lee Greenwood

If tomorrow all the things were gone
I'd worked for all my life,
And I had to start again
with just my children and my wife,
I'd thank my lucky stars
to be living here today,
'Cause the flag still stands for freedom
and they can't take that away.

I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.

From the lakes of Minnesota
to the hills of Tennessee,
Across the plains of Texas
from sea to shining sea.
From Detroit down to Houston
and New York to L.A.,
There's pride in every American heart
and it's time we stand and say:

I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.



dixi

 

[James Blandings]

There is a florist shop on the corner near my house. Today the people who work there were all out on the street, handing small bouquets of red, white, and blue flowers to each car as it drove by.
That is the commemoration of September 11 that I will remember.

 

[DustyWolfe]

We all dressed patriotic at the office today... But the bosses put a tv in the waiting room and one in the main office... So it was very sobering to listen to what was on the tv. I ended up spending most of the afternoon filing and listening to music on the radio so I was away from the TV reports.

 

[RisiaSkye]

I had friends in the WTC. I have friends in Ireland. I have friends in Iraq, Iran and Kuwait.

This is a good day to gently remind the USA that we all live in what can be a very dangerous world. Creating hope for a better tomorrow rarely comes by looking at the world through vengeance-tinged crosshairs.

As is the case when I see repeated clips of Palestinian mourners on TV, I'm choosing not to watch any more today as I've seen enough.... Out of respect for not just the dead, but the living as well.

Lance

Well said, Lance.
I absolutely agree.

 

[~Dream~]

All I can say..

Our Spirit is strong as United we stand
We should be thankful to God(Allah)
"He" still protects our dear land...


the terrorists wanted to change America" ..they suceeded ,we are stronger and more determined,and United as never before..

heartfelt prayers to all the survivors and to the loving ,innocent ones who gave their lives on 9-11-01 from me& my family I am an American/ Muslim and I pray that this will help the U.S. to know that 'terrorism comes from all religions and we all as Americans have to do our very best to "bring peace ' and to reach out and understand..war is NOT the only answer...JMHO..
Dream

 

[cellis]

I watched the opening of the memorial service at ground zero yesterday morning. As the names were being read and YoYo Ma played the cello, I began to cry and I turn off the TV.

I lived in front of the TV for weeks after 9/11/01. I have grieved and mourned for people I did not know. I have talked with survivors of the tragedy because that is part of my job.

I know exactly where I as and what I was doing a year ago and I will never forget it.

I will not though let the terrorists have control of my future and color the way I live the rest of my life.