9/11 Remembered

Where were you 9/11/2001? For me as an innocent naive young man I truly did not have any idea of the kind of history I was watching on tv that day. I had no idea of the truly monumental place in history that day would come to reside in the history of not only our country but our planet as a whole. I will never forget a headline the next day, from the French, stating "Today we are all Americans". For reasons unknown, to this day when I think of those words and the reason they were printed and spoken, tears come to my eyes. For a day, we were all one on this planet. It didn't last however this post is not about political differences. I was working at Bankston Nissan in Dallas when the events began unfolding. We had a tv in the customer lounge and like many across the country I was able to witness on live tv those events. I will never forget watching Dan Rather as he was doing his job, narrating the events as they unfolded when as the first tower began collapsing his lip quivered and he could no longer go on. There were no more words able to describe what was happening at that moment. Later as I reflected upon that very moment, safe in my Texas life, that thousands had just perished before my eyes. It was unthinkable at the time that so many could be killed at that exact moment on live television for everyone to see. For anyone that may ever read this commentary on that day I want them to know that while I never went on to do great things in life, their loved ones will never be forgotten in my heart. I do not know their individual names; collectively I know them all. There is great evil in this world and they lost their lives due to that great evil. I can do my part, however small that may be, to combat that evil. For me that is to teach my grandchildren the reasons these people died and why we must remember them forever. When I was around 12 years old my mother worked for Merrill Lynch in San Antonio and on a daily basis she would communicate with people in the WTC. This led me to develop a fascination with the WTC and I had dreams of one day taking a vacation to see them. That dream can never be fulfilled in the manner I intended. Now it will be a remembrance of what came before.