I wrote this several years ago. Rather than write about my feelings about this day, I will just post what I wrote a few years ago. Except that I absolutely do not feel safe under our president today, my feelings in the following are my feelings still today.
Today
is the anniversary of a day I will never forget. Ten years ago on this date I
worked for United Airlines. One of my coworkers called to see if I was watching
the news, and together we sat there in total disbelief as we watched the second
airplane hit the Twin Towers. The next several weeks I saw the coming together
of a nation, unlike anything I've ever seen.
In
the course of the next few weeks I heard many stories from our passengers, some
typical of what we saw on the news, some unique. We had planes diverted and passengers
stranded in cities and countries into which we didn’t even fly, but there was
not a single complaint from any of them, some who might have been a little
crabby for their inconvenience another time and place. They knew we were doing
all we could do to get them home in a safe manner.
One
man told me he was landing in NYC when the second plane crashed. He said his
plane was like the Juan Valdez coffee commercial where everybody on the plane
gathered to one side of the cabin in order to see what was going on with all
the fire and smoke. They had no idea at that time what real horror they were
witnessing.
Another
man talked to me for 45 minutes or more, and most of those minutes he and I
both were in tears. He overslept that morning and was late for work. He got
there to find the city in utter chaos. His company had offices in one of those
buildings, and he was now the only survivor from his office. Until his company
figured out what to do with him, they gave him some vacation time. He called me
to book a flight to some destination that I can’t remember. From his arrival
point, he was going to rent a car that would take him to the deepest and most
isolated area he could find, where he would have no access to TV, phone, or
people. He was clearly having survivor’s guilt and was such a lost individual
that day.
I
took calls from people who used their own money to buy a ticket to fly to NYC
to donate whatever skill or talent they had.
I took many calls from people who felt they had no talents or skills to
donate, physical or otherwise, but they did have frequent flyer miles to
donate. There were so many requests to donate miles that the airline set up a
special account specifically for this. Those miles went to family members who
wanted to be in NYC to look for their missing relative or to take care of
children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews who were left orphaned. The
airline flew many of these families and rescue workers for free. Some refused
to take the free flights because they wanted to make sure anybody with no means
to buy their own ticket would be able to use that account. Every day I was
touched over the caring, the generosity, and the emotions of these people
towards others who were complete strangers to them. I had phone calls from
people who didn't want anything except to tell me, a United Airlines employee,
that they were so sorry for what I was going through with our company losing
employees and passengers from our airline. I can’t tell you how much I needed
those calls. Me, a West Virginia hillbilly who had never set foot in NYC, never
knew a single person in those buildings or on those planes except for one
little girl who continues to haunt me today. One day I’ll write about her, but
even these many years later it hurts too much to go there.
I
got calls from people of Middle Eastern descent who lived in the US. Many of
them apologized for the actions of a few deranged people who caused many
Americans to despise their country and its people. They feared retaliation even
though they were as horrified and outraged as any blond-haired, blue-eyed
American-born citizen.
There
were no conservatives or liberals. No black race or white race. No rich or
poor. No city folk or country folk. We were one nation, one people, coming
together as a family, each of us doing our part, whether it was donating time,
supplies, equipment, money, or skills. Whether it was taking care of a family
member or friend’s orphaned child, whether it was sitting in our homes in front
of the TV crying and praying, or whether it was listening to a total stranger
crying about his/her individual experience.
How
sad that it takes a tragedy of this magnitude to bring us all together as a
country, and maybe we’ll never see that again in my lifetime. But for a few
weeks I saw the absolute best of every American to whom I came in contact, and
I was, as I've always been and will continue to be, proud to be an American.
This is what our forefathers set in motion.
Ten
years later we seem to have divided again into our little categories of
politics, race, gender, status, and groups. We argue as to whether the war had
anything to do with the events of September 11, 2001. But no matter how we
differ, no matter which issue in which we disagree, this tragedy continues to be a
place where we still bond, still sympathize, are still angry, still hurt, still
frightened, and still care. This tragedy was so globally horrific that we all
have our own story about something that touched us in some way; someone we
knew, something we saw, that even the
hardest and malicious of comedians don’t touch it. They’re hurt, too. We all
hurt. As divided as we might be as individuals, we all united over this one
date in history. We all love each other when we talk about it. We sympathize.
We empathize. We experienced it together and that’s permanent, like family.
Families may fight and argue, but if somebody outside our home tries to hurt
one of ours, we unite, circle our wagons, and fight and protect. We will no
longer be underestimated for how strong we are when we have this type of coming
together.
I’m
reminded of the great Gettysburg Address, and I think it’s fitting even today. When
President Lincoln delivered this address, he underestimated the influence of
his words and this great country when he said, “The world will little note, nor
long remember what we say here….”
The
world took note, Mr. President, and remembered then as the world takes note and
remembers still today. Our ancestors and our future Americans will not have
died in vain because, in President Lincoln’s words, “this nation, under God,
shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
We stand just as strong today. That
day will go down in the history books as the day that Americans united together
as one. When we stand together, as we did that day, no disturbed person or
group can possibly take us down. We will be fine. But we will never
forget.
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