I have been thinking about what to say about today. We put our flag out this morning, as did many of our neighbors. We didn't watch TV before we left the house for church. I just assumed that the music selections would all be patriotic. Not so, other then at the very end of the recessional the organist played a short rift of America the Beautiful. Almost everyone was gone by then. The music, the readings and Fr. Mike's sermon were all about forgiveness. Fr. Mike said he is gone to study Muslim while he is on sabbatical later this year. he says he just wants to understand. That makes a lot of sense to me. I hope he shares with us. But forginess is not something we hear in connection with this day. It is a tough concept. This is now called Patriots Day. We honor those who risked, and many who lost, their lives to save others on that tragic day 10 years ago. We honor those in uniform who protect our lives today. We saw New Yorkers in a new way. they put up this though outside. but we saw their softness on the inside. We are inspired to look at this day with a deepened pride in being an American. When we see things that say "We wont forget" some look at that is approval to not forget their anger and hate. That is why forgiveness is such a tough concept for today. It is true that it is needed. Forgiveness isn't for those being forgiven. It doesn't mean what they did was right. Forgiveness is for our own souls to let go and to move forward. I just don't know if I am ready to do that yet. I know that I should.
A lot of people are asking each other where were, what they remember. I asked my husband if he remembered. He said he did but didn't want to talk about it. I guess the pain is still running deep there. I gave my remembrance yesterday, but I will add a few more things. As I said, I lived in Las Vegas. Here are some of the things I noticed. We lived in the flight path to the airport. It was very strange to have no planes in the sky at all for days. Very surreal. At work we had one co worker who was Muslim. They gave here the week of work for her own protection. One of the strangest things is that a lot of people could not get to the real New York, so they left things at the New York New York hotel. This became an amazing phenomenon. From what I understand the thousands of items left there, t-shirts form first responder units from everywhere, notes, artifacts, were all archived and are stored at UNLV.
Something happened that saddened me about a year later. We had been shown that Police and Firefighters were our heroes. The apartment complex I lived in caught fire. The fire department came. They treated us like dirt. I was evacuating with my cat in his carrier in one hand and my dog on his leash in the other. We were trying to get to my car in the parking lot. A fire fighter (hero-not) pushed past the crowd of us trying to hurry out of the way. He snarled at me "That dog better not bite me." The dog was no where near him I had the leash wrapped around my hand so he was tight to my side. He was also crawling on his belly with fear. What a hero. He's lucky I didn't bite him myself. We got to the car. About a dozen of us were trapped in the parking lot, we were blocked from going out past the firetrucks. One of the ladies had a baby we were all trying to shelter from the smoke. Not one fire fighter came to our aid. From where we stood I could see one of the men in charge drinking a cup of coffee while our homes burned. This was a poor neighborhood, I guess not worth the effort to save. It wasn't until 3AM before they broke a hole in the back wall of the parking area to hook up to the fire plug. At about 6AM they let us leave the parking lot. They 'worked' through the day to put out the fire. I should say they worked as long as the media was there filming. The fire chief was there full of concern, but when the news crews left so did he and his crew. No one was there to tell us if we had homes to go back to or what to do. I took my cat and dog and headed back to my apartment. I had to slog through knee deep water in some places. Some guy yelled at me and wanted to know what I was doing. I said "I'm going home" he didn't stop me. Fortunately for me my apartment only had smoke damage. But my heart was broken. My heart still breaks when I here about the "Heroes" There is another story about the Police but I will save that for another time. Right now I need to step back, breath and forgive.
I AM happy to live in a world where, for the most part, we do have heroes.
I am also happy to know that a dear friend who has her birthday today, had a good day.
Peace, Joy and Love to all.
A lot of people are asking each other where were, what they remember. I asked my husband if he remembered. He said he did but didn't want to talk about it. I guess the pain is still running deep there. I gave my remembrance yesterday, but I will add a few more things. As I said, I lived in Las Vegas. Here are some of the things I noticed. We lived in the flight path to the airport. It was very strange to have no planes in the sky at all for days. Very surreal. At work we had one co worker who was Muslim. They gave here the week of work for her own protection. One of the strangest things is that a lot of people could not get to the real New York, so they left things at the New York New York hotel. This became an amazing phenomenon. From what I understand the thousands of items left there, t-shirts form first responder units from everywhere, notes, artifacts, were all archived and are stored at UNLV.
Something happened that saddened me about a year later. We had been shown that Police and Firefighters were our heroes. The apartment complex I lived in caught fire. The fire department came. They treated us like dirt. I was evacuating with my cat in his carrier in one hand and my dog on his leash in the other. We were trying to get to my car in the parking lot. A fire fighter (hero-not) pushed past the crowd of us trying to hurry out of the way. He snarled at me "That dog better not bite me." The dog was no where near him I had the leash wrapped around my hand so he was tight to my side. He was also crawling on his belly with fear. What a hero. He's lucky I didn't bite him myself. We got to the car. About a dozen of us were trapped in the parking lot, we were blocked from going out past the firetrucks. One of the ladies had a baby we were all trying to shelter from the smoke. Not one fire fighter came to our aid. From where we stood I could see one of the men in charge drinking a cup of coffee while our homes burned. This was a poor neighborhood, I guess not worth the effort to save. It wasn't until 3AM before they broke a hole in the back wall of the parking area to hook up to the fire plug. At about 6AM they let us leave the parking lot. They 'worked' through the day to put out the fire. I should say they worked as long as the media was there filming. The fire chief was there full of concern, but when the news crews left so did he and his crew. No one was there to tell us if we had homes to go back to or what to do. I took my cat and dog and headed back to my apartment. I had to slog through knee deep water in some places. Some guy yelled at me and wanted to know what I was doing. I said "I'm going home" he didn't stop me. Fortunately for me my apartment only had smoke damage. But my heart was broken. My heart still breaks when I here about the "Heroes" There is another story about the Police but I will save that for another time. Right now I need to step back, breath and forgive.
I AM happy to live in a world where, for the most part, we do have heroes.
I am also happy to know that a dear friend who has her birthday today, had a good day.
Peace, Joy and Love to all.
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