New York, 9/11

Today is seven years since the attacks on the world trade center. While David and I were in NYC we went to the site. I was suprised at how emotional I got while I was there. Immediately those memories of that day came rushing forward.

I remember that day so clearly. I suppose everyone old enough to understand what events were taking place knew what they were doing at the time they learned about the horrific events. Kind of like when Kennedy was shot, most people knew exactly what they were doing at the time when they found out.

I had just arrived at Bible Study. It was a beautiful clear sunny day. There were women gathered in the foyer praying, which was unuaual. Then I found out. After we spent time in prayer I gathered the girls and came home and turned on Fox news. When I initially heard about it I didn't think it could be any thing worse than the Oklahoma City bombings, how wrong I was.

As I watched the events unfold before me on the tv screen I could not believe my eyes. It was like I was watching a doomsday movie. Like one of those Mel Gibson Mad Max movies. It didn't seem real. We had been attacked on our own land. Something I don't think that happened since WWII when Japan bombed Hawaii. We see terrorism all the time in other countries, but not ours, we are a super power aren't we?


I remember sitting there crying. I cried for those who died, for their families and for my family, knowing that things will never be the same. We are not safe, nor ever will we ever really be. As long as there are those out there who hate the US and everything we stand for as a country, we will never be truly safe. As long as there is evil in the world, we will never be safe.

I was listening to Glen Beck and he was saying how there were people in NYC protesting with signs accusing the US of being behind these attacks. For one thing, I can not believe people can be so ignorant, and another, if I truly felt this way, well, I would leave! Why would I want to live in a country that was governed by such evil people!

I used to think that this is something that we as a country will never forget. I no longer feel this way. It seems like people have gone back to the same ole. They live in a fantasy land of thinking that we can negotiate with leaders of Iran, Bin Laden, etc. They are fighting what they consider in their minds to be a holy war, which essentially means that there is no negotiating, no compromise. No amount of sanctions or summits or treaties are going to keep them from doing the will of Allah, which is to rid the world of the Jewish people and to kill the "great Satan", the USA.

I am sure the people who lost loved ones on this very horrific day will never forget 9/11. They will never forget that we are vunerable to those out there that hate us as a country and all that we stand for.

Usually whenever I visit places like NYC, places that are so foriegn to me, I love to find people who live there and start up a conversation. More than visiting the usual torristy sights and such, I want to know what it is like to actually live there. What the people are like. I don't want to see what other visitors see, I want to see what it is REALLY like. Well, one day when I was walking around I found myself way uptown Manhattan. I was very hungry and looking for some where to eat, a fast food place. It was kind of funny because I kept seeing signs saying "Subway", and I would think "oh good, a subway sandwich place", only to find that it was actually the "SUBWAY".
Anyway, I finally found some place to get a hamburger. Even though it was very hot and humid I didn't come to NYC to sit inside, I want to see everything! So I took my meal outside and crossed the street to the median where they have kind of like a park with tables to eat at. I sat next to this young girl. We started talking and she told me that she was from NY. I asked her if she lived here during 9/11. She told me that she did. She was actually working at a building closer to lower Manhattan, that the window of her office faced the towers. She said that that morning she had heard people talking and knew something was going on. At the time most people didn't know exactly what was taking place, they just thought that some small engine plane got off course and ran into the building. She said that as she was looking out her window towards the towers she saw the second plane hit. It was like a nightmare. After the second plane hit everyone knew that it was no accident. She told me that she walked all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge. It took her all day long to get home. It was like the night of the living dead. People were all just walking, no one talking. Everyone was in shock, not knowing what to think, just trying to get home. It was like a mass exodus out of the city by foot because none of the trains were running. A day she said she will never forget. Nor should we.
Here are a few pictures of ground zero as it was just in July while we were there. It was hard to see anything because it is all fenced in.
I think that it is tower number 7, where the command center was at, that has the first of many new buildings that are going up to replace the ones that were lost.
One picture is of the memorial along the wall of the building across the street where people left candles, pictures prayers.
The firehouse is directly across the street and I think that every fireman in that fire company perished. The is a beautiful bronze engraving of them on the wall. I looked at it and just thought about these brave men who lost their lives, left behind their families and loved ones. How they bravely went in to save people, laying down their lives so that others may live. This is the true love of God.