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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Let Us Never Forget


Today I visited the 9/11 Memorial at the site where the twin towers of the World Trade Center stood until September 11, 2001. Adjectives escape me, as none that come to mind adequately describe the flood of emotions I felt as I explored the Memorial.

I’ll start with the names – names of real, every day people who got up on 9/11 and went to work anticipating a normal, uneventful day. That morning, like any other morning, they hugged their kids, kissed their spouse, fed the dog and left for work; work as a firefighter, a police officer, an insurance executive, a secretary, a flight attendant, an investor, a janitor, a pilot…people working hard to support their families. By noon they were gone, and those whom they left behind still miss them today. I saw names of families lost on the flights; I saw names of mothers with their unborn child; I saw names of people I’ve never met, never even heard of, and I was moved. As a nation we still mourn their loss, as well we should.

The mood at the Memorial was at the same time somber and hopeful. I saw tears and I saw smiles. I saw people pause over certain names. I saw people deep in contemplation. I saw newly planted trees that will one day shade the entire area. I saw sorrow and I saw hope.

Towering over the Memorial pools are two new skyscrapers still under construction. While we mourn those we lost, we must forge onward. The hundreds of workers in their orange and yellow vests working diligently to rebuild the site are inspirational to me. In them, and in their work, I take comfort in knowing that those who died on 9/11 did not die in vain. They will forever be an inspiration to all of us. We must take lasting lessons from this tragedy. Take nothing for granted; love those who love you; be grateful for who you are and how the Lord has blessed you. You just never know what the day might bring. Let us never, ever forget…