Ten years ago, today, I was a newlywed in my 30's, trying to capture a few more minutes of sleep before getting ready for work. Suddenly, my husband burst in, telling me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I rushed to the living room and we both stood, transfixed, watching the images from New York City -- Smoke and flames billowing from the North Tower, highlighted against an amazingly clear, blue sky...I had been a nanny in New York for 2 years, taking care of two amazing children who lived just across the Brooklyn Bridge from the tragedy unfolding before our eyes. Immediately, I thought of them, and of their Dad, who worked in one of the office buildings on Wall Street. I closed my eyes and hoped with all of my heart that their family was safe. I was still standing there, glued to the screen, as my husband reluctantly went to shower in preparation for work. Moments later, the second plane slammed into the South Tower. I don't remember what I yelled, but John was out of the shower in a heartbeat, wrapped in a towel, watching in shocked amazement by my side. That was the moment when we, along with the rest of the country, realized this was no accident, but a deliberate, premeditated attack against America.
The rest of the day remains a bit of a blur, but certain moments stand out in stark contrast to the fuzziness of the rest...Seeing the images of people throwing themselves from windows to escape the fire...The faces of New Yorkers as they stared in horror at the spectacle...The surreal moment when the first tower collapsed -- images of the smoke and debris and terrified people running for their lives...Hearing that the Pentagon had been hit...That another plane had gone down in Shanksville...The fear of not knowing if any of the planes overhead were being piloted by terrorists...Standing alongside my fellow staff members at school, our faces pale with shock, wondering how we were going to take care of the children under our care, even as each of us wanted only to gather closely to our loved ones and to remain riveted to our televisions and radios for every new moment of news...
And, here we are, ten years later. Once again, I've been riveted to the television all morning, as the memorials take place at Ground Zero, the Pentagon, and in Shanksville. My husband and I held hands as Paul Simon sang "The Sound of Silence", tears running down our cheeks... As the faces, names, and ages of people who died scrolled across the bottom of the screen, I noticed, in particular, the photos of a young father and his two children, aged 3 and 8, who were killed that terrible morning. Ten years ago, I hadn't yet experienced the profound, shocking, life-changing love that overtakes you, when you become a parent. But, now, as the mother of two beloved little boys, I read those names and broke down again, imagining the pain that family members must have felt at that moment, and still feel today...
I remember the feeling that seemed to sweep across our nation at that time. Patriotism. Compassion. Pulling together... I remember feeling connected to something bigger than just my own corner of Washington State. I remember people making eye contact with one another, smiling at one another, reaching out to help one another. I remember media messages filled with hope and optimism and stories about the courage and resilience of the American people, and how we can overcome anything if we come together in unity. Unity... One would hope that an event of this magnitude would permanently change a country for the better.
One would hope...
And, yet, as I reflect on where we are today, a decade after the horrific events of September 11, 2001, I feel a profound sense of disappointment. Instead of becoming stronger as a nation, we are more fractured than ever. Instead of using 9/11 as a wake-up call to mobilize as a country to end our dependence on foreign oil and to invest in renewable energy resources, we went to war. As a result, ten years later, thousands upon thousands of young men and women are still losing their lives, forever altering the lives of the family and friends who love and need them...And, as we spout rhetoric about being a free country in which every individual has the right to worship, or not worship, as he or she desires, anti-Muslim sentiment abounds. Ten years later, on our own soil, Muslim families are experiencing acts of hatred and intolerance that should make every American stand up and say "Enough! This is NOT how we behave in my country!"...Ten years later, we connect with others, not face-to-face, with smiles, handshakes, hugs, and eye contact, but with text messages and tweets. Instead of walking across the street to chat with neighbors, people hide in their houses and Facebook their 500 "friends"... And, while just one decade ago, members of Congress stood as one and sang "God Bless America" in unison, ten years later, members of the Republican party in Congress have openly stated that their only objective is to make sure that Barack Obama is a one-term President. They are proudly content to sit back and do nothing to help people who are suffering in our country, or to invest in the education of our promising young people, or to rebuild our infrastructure, or to address the catastrophic results of climate change around the globe, because that would mean working cooperatively with the Democrats they have sworn to defeat, no matter what...
Unity? Strength? Courage? Resilience? Hope?
What have we really learned?...
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