September 11, 2011

  • It Seems Almost Like Yesterday :((

     

    TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

    Like everyone else that was near a radio or television on this date in 2001, we will always remember where we were at the very moment we heard about the Twin Towers being hit by that first airplane.  I had turned on the news like I always did at that time of the morning.  I had seen the Princess off to school (her school bus picked the kids up at the end of the block which was maybe 100 feet from our front door).  I got myself a cup of coffee and headed towards my office.  I got a call from our company secretary to tell me to put on the news because a plane had crashed into one of the Towers in New York.

    My first thought was that it was purely an accident.  I got the Beast on his cell phone as I watched the screen and was telling him about it when the second plane crashed into the other tower.  It was THEN that I screamed, *OMG!!!  That was no accident!  It's terrorists and we are under attack!*  The Beast was in the midst of a major project on one of our bigger office buildings and told me to keep him posted as I found out more information.  I didn't have to because our clients and their tenants were totally in shock and made sure they kept all the guys informed.  Many of them were former New Yorkers and had friends and family living in Manhattan.  A few had friends that worked in the Towers.

    Everyone, I dare say, was totally glued to their TV sets for the next few days.  I had a cousin that worked at the Pentagon and I spent the next couple of days trying to get hold of him or find someone that knew how he was.  Turns out he wasn't working at the Pentagon that day but was at a satellite center....phew!  But HE lost friends in THAT attack.

    It was almost impossible to tear yourself away from any information we could glean from the television reports.  Sleep and eating suffered.  The Princess and her friends absorbed the information and went out to play in the pool while the weather was still nice.  The Princess, I am ashamed to say, was at least old enough to fend for herself as far as eating.  I don't remember what or even IF I ate.  Every television set in our house was set to the same channel so we couldn't move without being able to see one.

    I sit here, 10 years later, and it seems like it was just yesterday as I watch the specials on TV today.  My only consolation is that Osama Bin Laden is dead, finally.  If he wanted to bring their objectives to our attention in a dramatic way, he sure did.  It did not, however, terrify us as a nation.  It riveted us.  It pissed us off in a BIG way.  Homes that had never done it before suddenly flew the American flag to show where OUR allegiance lay. 

    We lost thousands of innocents that day.  Our hearts bled for their friends and family and for ourselves.  We had been complacent for far too long and taken our Armed Forces for granted.  There was a huge outpouring of love, patriotism, compassion and a solidarity of spirit we had not felt in many years.  Perhaps never before in our lives.  It was indeed a day we all knew we would never forget.  It was an end to innocence for many and a determination set in that took our enemies by surprise.  They unleashed a tiger that day.  Or should I say an EAGLE.  The American Eagle was flying and totally pissed off.

    We've lost some of that determination and patriotism but....I still touch my heart when I see a man or woman in uniform.  It's a special salute that was online to show your support for them and your gratitude.  I know it's on UTube but I have lost that link, sad to say.  Perhaps Bratfink has it and I can post it later in case you haven't seen and/or used it. 

    But, today should be a day of prayer and remembrance.  It may have been 10 years but it sure seems almost like yesterday........

     

    PS:  HERE IS THE LINK THANKS TO BRATFINK.  LOVE YOU,SIS.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSfFYxSdKdo