It is probably early October when you are reading this but it is 9/11/ 2020 as I write it. It was a day 19 years ago when this nation was attacked by radicals that were nothing more than cold blooded, calculated killers. Cowards who neither had the means nor the skills to attack those they hated the most, so instead they killed the innocent, the pawns in the war on terror, to try and strike fear into the hearts of the American people. They failed miserably because if there was one day in the last twenty years when the American people never felt closer to each other-- it was that day. But that closeness never lasted.
As a writer I wish I could find the words that describe the depths of grief and loss that came with the people that lost their lives’ that day. The children who lost their mom’s or dad’s. The sons and daughters, friends and neighbors, wives and husbands who never came home that night. I wish I could write descriptive words that would paint you the picture but I can’t because the words to adequately describe that kind of grief, have never been written and I know of no one capable of doing that. The depth, the scope of it all, well it’s unimaginable. 2,135 civilians, 372 non-citizens and 343 New York City firefighters and many more police and paramedics. Then there were many more deaths at the Pentagon and Shanksville to compound the grief.
Today a new tower stands where the twin towers stood, a testament to the resilience of the people of that city. The memorial to the fallen there has been visited by millions. The prayers that have been uttered and the tears that have fallen on that hallowed ground probably dwarf any other memorial response in this land. One would hope that this was the day that changed America. But the organization that sponsored that deadly day still exists and is active 19 years later and there seems to be little we can do about it.
Yet today, we are in the midst of a pandemic that dwarfs the list of fallen on 9/11 and the death toll is climbing. Still for many their cry is, “Party on.” In California the state is burning and thousands are losing their homes. As of this morning six more storms are winding their way across the Atlantic towards the homeland. Almost every state is in some kind of financial difficulty and the National Debt-- well there is no hope of ever paying it off. The war on drugs is a dismal failure after spending well over a trillion dollars to stop it. People have no jobs. This is just the highlights. I no longer watch the news because I don’t need the daily reminders of how bad things are. I know full well that ignorance doesn’t stop anything. It’s just too painful to see.
I meet with my old friends each week to share our thoughts and concerns and although we run the gambit of different political beliefs and different faiths, we have one big thing in common. Our love and concern for each other and our friends and families. Our bodies are filled with arthritic pain and our minds don’t operate the way they used too. We all remember a better time and a better place. We all remember loved ones, who have gone on before us and we accept that and live around the holes in our hearts. Yet, outside of our precious memories we live in the moment because we know the next moment is not guaranteed. We have found some semblance of companionship at this level. At least at this level and in this brief moment, we have driven hate and fear away. Until this world learns to heal and do that, we will all suffer on.
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