"Do You Remember?"

People remember precisely where they were and what they were doing when major tragedy strikes.  My mother would always remember the attack on Pearl Harbor.  I will always remember the Kennedy assassinations, the assassination of Martin Luther King, the space shuttle disasters, and September 11, 2001. 

When these horrible events occur, they become indelibly etched into our memory and some of the images can be called to mind forever after.  Some times the things we remember are good news, but mostly they are not.  Mostly they are horrifying, unbelievable, and frightening.  Things no one ever expected or wanted.  Very few are natural events like earthquakes or huge fires.  They are more likely the work of insane, fanatical, zealous, misguided, or downright evil people who believe it is vital that they undertake an action that will result in many deaths, injuries, pain, loss, destroyed families, and broken hearts.   Their actions defy understanding, are hard to forgive, and impossible to forget.

Today, it is 9 years since two commercial airliners full of typical passengers, were hijacked by terrorists and flown directly and purposely into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.  Everyone watched as those buildings came down like some sort of insane chain reaction, first one and then, unbelievably, the other.  Nearly 3,000 people died.....ordinary people who had gone to work on an ordinary morning....firefighters and police who were desperately trying to get people out of the buildings before they, too, were buried in the rubble of the collapsed buildings.....all the passengers and crew of the airliners....and the terrorists who had commandeered the planes. 

We watched it all happen, live, from the safety of our own homes, but afterward, our safety became even more fragile than ever before.  Fear became part of our day to day lives for quite awhile and we are still feeling the effects of that awful morning.

So "Do You Remember?"   Of course you do!  None of us who saw it will ever forget.