The people of my parents generation have always said, "I remember exactly were I was when Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot" or "I remember where I was when John F. Kennedy was shot."
And people of my generation have said "I remember where I was when Marvin Gaye was shot."
And the people of my generation now have an additional "I remember" moment. ...
"I remember where I was the morning the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center."
That's how I started a post on the tenth anniversary of the tragedy. And I quoted that from a post I wrote 6 years prior to that post.
I myself was on travel for work. I'd been on my current job for only 3 weeks and I'd gone to Denver for a course given by my agency on an instrument that I use for analysis at work. I remember being particularly prayerful before my trip (I left ATL on a Sunday) because I had some strange sense of uneasiness inside. I am thankful for the "Prayer for travel" in my Prayers that Availeth Much book. It was such an odd feeling. I knew I could get on my own plane, but what was that feeling I was getting? So when the tragedy occured, that was a lightbulb moment. I will never forget how I felt inside the couple of days before it happened. And I know it wasn't just me feeling that way when my Pastor posed the question of whether people had strange feelings of "uneasiness" around that time. He had to take some time to explain that.
I don't want to feel that way ever again.
And do you notice that your level of distraction has increased over the years, however subtle it may be? I believe there's a spiritual reason for that, related to what I said in the last paragraph. I think about that on this day also. But that's a whole nother post in itself...
Anyway, it was tough getting on a plane the day after they lifted the flying ban. I actually made it back home that Saturday with only a 1.5 hour delay in flight. Some of the training participants from the Northeast had much worse delays.
On this morning, I took time to pray for the people who lost people that day in the tragedy. It's not only the tragedy that is devastating, but it is the emotional and mental residue left behind that takes its toll.
Many have moved on with their lives... but I am sure that there isn't a day that goes by that they don't think of the loved one lost. Not a day. I pray that they endure the pain and sorrow of it all. Because I know it has to be hard.
I heard on a program yesterday that anyone under the age of 17 years old doesn't remember or understand what happened on that terrible day.
Let's hope that they don't have a "I remember" moment in their lives of such a tragic magnitude.
Let's hope we never experience something that tragic... ever again.
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It's amazing to me how things happen and we can recall exactly what we were doing at the time. I remember I was pregnant with Tyler and sitting at work. I will never forget sitting there watching that. Sadly, I do believe there will be other moments we won't ever forget in our lifetime.
ReplyDeleteLike you reminded me on email, the Newtown tragedy is the current generation's "I remember where I was when..." moment. Yes, we will have other moments in our lifetime. Sad, but true.
DeleteI was on my way to work. I was right outside my building at work when it happened. It felt odd right before I went in. Once I got to my office all my co-workers were talking and listening to their radios.
ReplyDeleteI was supposed to be at a conference in Florida at the time. It would have been my first time flying. When I saw all the flight delayed for days I thought how I would have been stuck down there and afraid to fly again.
My daughter got scared because her father was in the military and her older cousin started saying stuff about him and war. I had to try and calm her down she was 11 at the time.
I had a teenage cousin on a flight that morning to Spain. She was to be an exchange student for a month. Her mother was worried somethin awful about her. They didn't hear word of her safe arrival for her for two days.
DeleteIt is amazing how much of an affect it all had on so many people...
People didn't really get stuck where they were unless they were flying to the New York area. I was in Denver for the remainder of the week. The last day of the conference had to be canceled since the last couple of teachers couldn't make it in due to flights being grounded.
What was interested is that they told us if we wanted to go home, we could. But ALL the cars were rented out at the Avis, etc. And couldn't catch a train... there had been a big collision out in Utah, one state over. So the trains were down. So... we were "stuck"... Might as well have class. Sigh.