The next several days, coverage of the attacks was the only thing on the television. The images and stories were just heart wrenching. It was tough to watch the TV when they showed Ground Zero, just knowing that so many perished in those buildings. But I felt that I had to watch, and I had to pray for those who had lost their lives. I also prayed that any survivors would be pulled from the wreckage as soon as possible.
Even more heart wrenching than watching the images of the crash sites was seeing the families and friends of missing people trying to get their missing loved ones names and faces out there in hopes that they could be located. So many families were on TV holding pictures of loved ones who were missing, just hoping that someone had seen them alive. They were clinging on to that hope that their loved ones would be pulled from Ground Zero, or located in a hospital.
It was reported that a former Boston Bruins player Garnet “Ace” Bailey was on one of the planes that crashed into one of the World Trade Center Towers. I had met Ace a few years before the attack at a Boston Bruins event, and hearing that he had been on one of the planes made the attacks seems even more real to me. Although I spent less than a minute interacting with Ace, it was enough to put a face and a personality behind one of the victims of the attacks. It was so surreal to think that a Bruins legend who I had spoken to and posed for a picture with was a victim of the attacks.
The more I watched the news, the more fearful I felt. There was just so much uncertainty, and I was afraid of what the world would be like in the coming weeks and months. I remember being really concerned for my nieces and nephews, who ranged in age from six to twelve. I was afraid that they would have to grow in living in fear of other attacks on U.S. soil. I prayed for them, and their future.
Amidst all the stories of loss, I heard a couple of stories of people who could have died that day, but a single decision kept them safe. A co-worker’s son worked in the World Trade Center, and he was running a bit late for work that day. Since he was already late, he decided to make a detour to pick up some Krispy Kreme donuts. His craving for a donut probably saved his life. If he hadn’t stopped to get some donuts, he would have been at his desk on a floor above impact in one of the World Trade Center Towers.
A friend of mine knew someone who worked in the second tower. The people working in that tower were told that there was no need for them to evacuate the building. This man had been in the federal building that had been bombed six years earlier in Oklahoma City, and he remembered the chaos involved with that event. He didn’t want to live through that chaos again, so he gathered his co-workers and told them that they should evacuate even though they had been told they didn’t need to leave the building. The man in his co-workers made it safely out of the building just 15 minutes before the building collapsed.
In the days after the attacks, I felt extremely helpless. Although I donated money and supplies to the cause, I still wished that there was more that I could do to help. I needed something to make me feel like I was doing something to help, and to show my American pride. I came up with a project that would allow me to show my pride in my country, and hopefully something that would allow others to do the same. I printed out hundreds of business cards with an American flag with the words “United We Stand” above it on one side, and the words to “God Bless America” on the other side. I then laminated them with clear contact paper, and handed them out to my friends, family, co-workers, and complete strangers. Making the business cards was very therapeutic for me. It gave me something to do that would allow others to carry the American flag with them wherever they went.
One thing that amazed me was the spirit of the country in the days and weeks after the attacks. People seemed a lot kinder, and we seemed stronger as a nation. United We Stand became the catchphrase for the country, and we truly did seem to be more united after the attacks. Everyone was showing their American pride. Flags were flying in front of more houses than usual, and many people even put flags on their cars. We were all united in our concern for the victims of the attacks, and our love for our country. Everyone seemed even prouder to be an American.
The Friday after the attacks, word spread around the country that people should join together with their neighbors to hold a moment of silence for those who lost their lives. Some of my neighbors and I decided that we would print out notices and invite everyone on our street to meet at the intersection in the middle of our street that night. We walked from door to door and left the notices at in every mailbox.
As the gathering time approached, my neighbors came out of their houses to join us. Many neighbors who I had never met came out to join us, and a handful of people came from neighboring streets to after they heard that we would be gathering. The drivers of two cars who just happened to be driving by at the time we were gathering parked their cards and joined us.
We had about 40 people on the street corner that night. There was so much love, and pride in the group that night. Some people brought candles. Others proudly waved American flags. We were all there to show our solidarity as Americans. We were all there to show our sympathy and support to the victims of the attacks, and their families. We all there to show our support to the rescue and recovery teams at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania. We were all there to show our support for the police officers, fire fighters, and service men and woman who would be protecting our county in this time of uncertainty.
One of my neighbors asked me to lead our gathering in our ceremony. I can’t remember exactly what I said, but I made a brief statement thanking everyone for joining us. I asked everyone to join me in a moment of silence in honor of the victims. After our moment of silence, we joined together to sing “God Bless America.” I don’t think there was a dry eye in our group. We lingered on the street corner chatting, and hugging, and getting to know our neighbors a little better. Just as our nation became stronger as the result of the attacks, our neighborhood also became stronger.
I found so much strength and hope in the gathering that night. United we stood on my street, honoring those who lost their lives, just like others were doing at the same time all around our country that night. We would unite, and show the terrorist that they may have put a crack in our spirit, but it wasn’t broken. We would come out of this a stronger nation, and we would not fear them.
No comments:
Post a Comment