It was all happening …right now…it’s so overwhelming to think about - still.
I keep thinking “9/11…25 years…sure doesn’t feel that long.” My feelings of shock, helplessness, and yes, rage, haven’t really subsided much, and time does not, indeed, heal all wounds – at least not for me, and I suspect I’m not alone. Everyone old enough to remember anything at that time remembers where they were when this barbaric and cowardly attack befell our Nation, how we became united in the face of a grotesque and soulless enemy, and how nothing has ever been nor ever will be the same.
I’ve paid my respects at the Pentagon, flown a military aircraft over what was once The World Trade Center, and last week had the honor to venerate the final resting place of the Flight 93 passengers and crew while standing at the 17.5 ton sandstone boulder that marks the impact site in the fields of Shanksville.
I’ve been humbled and inspired to meet/know some brave 9/11 First Responders and loved ones of the heroes who fought so valiantly on that fateful day so that others might not perish. One couple, whose cousin was a flight attendant on Flight 93, told me to never forget the words of her then-5yo grandson as they walked the impact site: “Good people won that day.”
Indeed. And good people demonstrated faith, courage, selflessness, sacrifice, and love beyond any measure, in the face of terror that few of us will ever know.
For the families, loved ones, and friends of the Fallen of Flight 93, the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon, and the courageous First Responders – those who perished and those still with us - who valiantly ran into danger, I know not one day must pass without at least a moment thinking about that fateful day or “what could have been.” But I’ve also been so incredibly inspired by the stories of resilience and drive to continue living life in honor of those who fought so hard for it or to protect it. God bless them all.
Flight 93. The World Trade Center. The Pentagon. 9/11. For so many reasons, we must never forget.