9/11 Tribute

It will always remain in our collective conciousness, and it's an experience that we all share and has affected individuals all in a different way.

Today though for me, I will put aside thoughts about how our world has changed for the children, how we are in an interminable war which may be just for the benefit of private contractors, how we have not seen much progress in shipping port security, and many other political agendas.

Today instead of mourning like in the past, I will honor those by celebrating the lives of those special people lost 6 years ago and those who have given their lives in the Armed forces. I will be embracing my family and friends as I learned life and every day is a special gift. I will be hoping that one day peace will reign, and that their lives will not be lost in vain.

Bless you for this and may I add

I thought of Mango this morning. She gave me a face to this tragedy and I will join her in honoring all those who left us on that day. Peace to you, Mango.

It is never far from even the most traveled folk...Mr. K sent me an earlier morning email saying he was leaving for the airport...he didn't realize he was flying on 9/11.

Mango, thanks for reminding us that we should live each day like it's our last.

Love ya Mango! I too thought of you today as you did put a face to it for some of us. Here is a long distance {{{{{HUG}}}}}}

Today is a gift. We'll never forget all those who lost their lives this day. We've only begun to see the lives affected. God bless our troops! XO Mango

Never Forget 9-11-01. I have my tshirt on like I have for each year since this senseless tradegy. God Bless each and every one of you who lost friends and/or loved one's on this day 6 years ago. Love ya, Mango!!!!

This may be one of the best tributes I've run across. An amazing piece of music on its own, but paired with the pictures it's amazingly sobering...

http://www.woodyulmer.com/prayer.html

Mangy--what a great post! I too thought about you this morning.

Sept 11, 2001
It was a cool serene morning when I took to the vineyards to begin harvesting grapes from which wine would be produced. The color of the trees around the edge of the hilly vineyard were beginning to change into those wonderful fall reds, oranges, yellows, and browns. I remember the quietness that was in the air, thinking how great it was to be alive, and living, being surrounded by nature. Then, one of the guys who was driving the tractor was listening to the radio, and he told us that terrorists had just crashed a plane into the World Trade Towers. He said that the US was under attack, and several of the guys working in the vineyard were talking about going home and loading their guns. The thought then hit us all -- we were being invaded and we needed to be ready to fight. One girl working with us, had been pushing the idea of the greatness of being in the National Guard for the last three weeks. She loved that she didn't have to do anything, really, other than go away for one weekend every month, and in return, she had school paid for, plus some. She also was a single parent with a six year old child. Needless to say, she shipped out to Iraq soon thereafter. That little reminder still sits with me, the reminder of life is an on/off switch, which can change at any minute. One moment, you are on top of the world, then, it collapses, and you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Life is deceptive like that. Where was I before getting on that Nat. Guard tangent? That's right, so we were preparing for war. I was ready. So much for the grape picking today. We didn't know if we would still be here tomorrow. Everyone left the vineyard, and I bet each of us went straight home to turn on the television, gawking for the next four days, without learning much new. I watched the second plane crash, soon after I arrived at the house. Then, I saw a replay of the first plane. It was horrible and so real, even though it was on TV. I couldn't turn off the television for several days, and I was deeply saddened and had a troubled heart.

Today, at the gym, I caught myself watching replays of the incident. It was all so fresh in my mind, though seemed so long ago. I've grown quite a bit since then, and have begun living life, too. I'm not sure what we are supposed to do about this whole 9/11 thing, but today, I will take a moment and think of the horrible deaths of so many people on those planes, lost in the building collapses, and the loved ones who cared for them. There are many people still walking around with weakened hearts from the incidents, and we will never be ths same. Of course, there is an old Zen Buddist saying, "One never steps into the same river twice."

Time does make the wounds less noticable, but they are still a part of us, remembered not every moment of life, but frequently enough to feel that pain we once experienced.

Today may be our last, so lets remind ourselves about that light switch of life. Carpe Diem!

I know I may get major flak for this, but I don't want to watch videos of 9/11 anymore. It's hard to get it out of your head. The best way we can honor the victims is an appropriate memorial, and to put those buildings up again.....now!

I want to thank everyone for sharing. Sometimes it just seems so far away - like a blurry bad dream.

In some ways it is hard to believe that six whole years have past ....

Love to all of those that need it.

SJ--Well said.

Thanks Mango for beginning this thread. First thing I did this morning was to raise my flag in front of my house and honor the brave, innocent victims of 9-11 and to pay silent honors to those brave men and women who were at ground zero from the beginning. So many times we, as Americans, awaken our personal arena of patriotism as with 9-11. I remember the morning as well. For weeks and weeks afterward people were flocking into recruiting stations ready to go "kill some of them iraqy people".....but soon afterward, their false sense of patriotism faded and turned into something different. Although I am a member of the military, I believe we need a huge change in leadership and I may not agree with many of the decisions this administration has made. My point is that Every time I see a flag waving, an old man wearing a VFW hat, a firetruck racing through the street, I feel my patriotism beat in my heart. The vicitims of 9-11 will always be in my prayers and the brave men and women in this country who wake up every day and fight for "Freedom" will always be a part of my life.

Thanks again Mango for your thread!!!!;-)

Thanks y'all for the calls, pms and thoughts today. I appreciate your sentiments more than you know.

I suppose I said that I would celebrate life today as many did in New York City today. There were 80 concerts alone in the city and others worldwide. It proved to be a day of mixed emotions though, mourning and celebrating life simultaneously. I've never been able to bring myself to Ground Zero. My cousin invited me to come with him and wife there as he was invited to speak (he's a life long firefighter in NYC) but I decided not to go.
Instead I spent the day talking and visiting with friends/neighbors and former colleagues (some who were there that fateful day) and we laughed and cried together. Things like how Danny's voice mail would fill up and he would have them transferred to me and I'd laugh but always helped him return calls anyway, how he complimented and noticed when someone got a new outfit or haircut, how we became instant buddies when his favorite flower, the gladiola, was mine as well. I loved listen to him talk to his wife lovingly and call her his lobster. He loved his life, his family and his work, and he was an example of living life to the fullest.

I am like you Bob, I don't watch the videos or television, it's just too tragic to relive.
Life goes on, but we will never forget.

I hope y'all had a peaceful day of remembrance as well and goofer, you were in my thoughts today.