A September Weekend

I'm sure the whole world knows that today is the anniversary of September 11th.

                                    

Such a horrible tragedy that Alan Jackson captured in this song written shortly after.

This is something that will forever be remembered much like the assassination of John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr or even the death of Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston for some. 

It's just one of those things where you can recall where you were when you first heard the news. 

Yet, none of these events can compare to the tragedy of September 11th, 2001.

For me....while I thankfully never lost any loved ones, the event hit real close to home. 

Myself and a girlfriend had just returned from an awesome extended long weekend in NYC. 

We were just there! 

It was just after getting to our desks that morning following our return that we heard the news. Almost the entire office was on their feet to pass along the information in shock. Not sure whether to believe or not. People had logged onto the internet to get live feeds of what was happening. 

It was crazy!

I'm sure all of our hearts were breaking for this horrible tragedy. Several of us were in tears. In fact, it was while logged onto the internet at work that many of us witnessed the live feed of that second plane hitting the South Tower of the World Trade Center. It was absolutely horrifying. 

Like many others, I was shaken. I was just there the day before!

Then...came the "What Ifs?"

While I may not have had family in NYC to worry about, I had a dear friend that I was now desperately trying to confirm was ok. A friend I had never physically met, but that had been a friend for years via online and telephone communication. Even though I had just been in NYC our paths kept missing each other as we tried to arrange our first meeting. Thoughts also drifted to a man that my girlfriend and I had met in NYC that had taken us on a party cruise. We met him down at the Pier when finding out that our hotel had shafted us on tickets we purchased for the event. This man heard our complaints and stepped in to help just because we were cute, I guess. He had no affiliation with the hotel or with the party cruise and was just being nice. Maybe he thought he was going to get lucky. (Which he didn't..lol) Who knows? Nevertheless, he helped us get on this cruise where we had a great time touring the harbor and learned that he worked on like floor 101 of the World Trade Center. A building we hadn't gotten a chance to really check out on our weekend visit, but actually considered playing hookie from work another day to do so, and more. lol We didn't. Now, it's a building that we will never see outside of the many many photos of it before and after it's fall.

So, in hearing of this crazy act of terrorism my heart broke knowing that I would never find out if this friendly stranger survived or not. But...I had to find out about my friend!! I didn't have a whole lot of options to reach him but I certainly tried every one I did have until I got an answer. He was ok, thank God, but had quite a story to share and a few photos because he was too close for comfort. 

As a result, he was full of soot.

But he was ok!!

                                                   

Today, these are all memories. 

We think about all the lives lost and the families that lost loved ones. We think about all those who demonstrated kindness beyond measure and risked and/or lost their own lives to save others. We think about those first responders and all those that now suffer health issues as a result of being there and doing whatever they could. We think about the never ending quest for justice. But, we also think about those that were supposed to be there and for one reason or another were not. Thank God. And, what about those unaccounted for? Last I read there was about 1000! Sad, Sad, Sad.

15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, 16 a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers.  (Zephaniah 1:15,16) 

- A reminder that the words of Scripture are eternally relevant.

I just wanted to write this post to share my own experience of 9/11, what I think about every year.

For my friend that was safe, 11 years later we STILL haven't met in person. hahahaha But, we still call each other friends. He was there to support me when someone I liked from his hometown wasn't treating me right many years ago. He was also there to congratulate me when I finally married Mr Right! Remember, I've still never met him but he was there as a friend....an online message and/or phone call away.  And on this day every year, he re-posts a "Thank You" that tells a bit of his experience that day and makes mention to ME and my hunt to confirm his safety.  

Makes me smile as I remember.

(I've removed my name since I'm now Mrs White and the name of the other person mentioned from his post.)

Thank you back dear friend for your friendship over the many years.

Who says online friendships can't be special?

Most of all, Thank God that you were safe.

Be Blessed.

We will meet.....one day!