Twentieth Anniversary of 9/11

[Jambalaya]

Next week is, of course, the twentieth anniversary of the attacks. Very many emotions. So often we say "How is it twenty years since [insert event]? Where did the time go?" However, with 9/11, I've been thinking the opposite. How is it only twenty years? It seems like fifty. Maybe it's because the attacks changed the world so much, and a pre-911 world seems so far away? I don't know, but friends I've spoken to recently feel the same way. How can it only be twenty years?

Anyway, I wanted to share what I think is an important and amazing website. It's an "official" 9/11 memorial website to the victims, and also features the stories of survivors, and a lot of photos from the museum at Ground Zero. It's really amazing - the website has a page for every victim, and family members have contributed many photos and essays about their lost loved ones. I've been browsing it, reading about some of the people who died and their interests, childhood photos, etc. I feel it honors them for a stranger like me to take the time to read all about them. I've enjoyed being able to "know" some of them as people and not just victims of terrorism.

I came away from the website with a renewed sense of wonder at the sheer kindnesses and braveries of individuals that day. There are many wonderful tales of fortitude and strength in the face of unimaginable stress and fear. People who refused to leave others who were hurt and got them out, off-duty volunteer firefighters who did not have radios (so missed the eventual call to evacuate) but kept going back in and climbing up tens and tens and tens of stairs to help.

Today, a white rose is placed on every name at the reflecting pools on the person's birthday. A local florist donates the roses, and everyone gets one on their birthday. How beautiful is that?

I also read about an air traffic controller from Boston whose wife was on Flight 11. He wasn't working at the time, but his shift was due to start at ten a.m. on the 11th, and he didn't know that his wife's flight was involved until he showed up for work. (She had left home at five that morning.) The FAA and his doctor said he shouldn't come back to work, and although he was eligible for retirement at 50, he was three years away from that. And he had two children who were age 9 and 7 to raise. He wasn't eligible for worker's comp because he wasn't at work at the time it happened. Then, an incredible thing happened: 140 air traffic controllers from across the country donated enough vacation time to him to bridge that three-year gap to retirement. How amazing is that? Yes, there is terrible evil in the world, but there is also an incredible well of strength and kindness. And the latter is much larger than the evil, which is perpetrated by only a few.

I just wanted to share this perspective that I gained after reading many 9/11 stories as we approach this unspeakably sad anniversary.

9/11 Living Memorial | Voices Center for Resilience

voicescenter.org

 

[PinkAndBlueBling]

It seems so long ago, yet it also seems like yesterday.

Thank you for sharing that website!

 

[missy]

It seems so long ago, yet it also seems like yesterday.

Thank you for sharing that website!

It really does seem like yesterday in many ways. And in other ways it seems a century ago.

I remember every single detail of that entire morning and afternoon. The rest of the nights and days that followed are a bit blurry but I remember the important stuff. It was a nightmare filled with horror and unless you were there you cannot fully grasp.

When I think of all the poor souls who died that day and days afterward and decades after from 9/11 related illnesses...it is too much to bear. What an evil world we live in and we need to make every day count and we need to work hard to make the world a better place. Each and every day. Life goes on and we need to do better.

"If we learned nothing else from this tragedy we have learned life is short and there is no time for hate."

 

[Jambalaya]

But @missy I don't think the world is full of evil. There are dozens upon dozens upon dozens of stories of unbelievable acts of sacrifice, heroism, bravery, and kindness that came out of that day. I think it's really important to remember how good rises up against evil when terrible things occur. ETA: Having read many, many of the stories on that website across a few days, I actually came away with an uplifted heart about just how wonderful so many people were that day. Yes, people full of evil attacked the towers, but those towers were filled to the brim with goodness. Before exploring that website, I did not realize how much that was true.

I also think it's important to remember that the evil is perpetrated by only a few, not by the many.

I agree completely that one probably cannot grasp the day unless you were there. I had never been to New York when 9/11 happened; my first trip there was in 2005, so I can't comprehend how big they must have been.

 

[missy]

But @missy I don't think the world is full of evil. There are dozens upon dozens upon dozens of stories of unbelievable acts of sacrifice, heroism, bravery, and kindness that came out of that day. I think it's really important to remember how good rises up against evil when terrible things occur. ETA: Having read many, many of the stories on that website across a few days, I actually came away with an uplifted heart about just how wonderful so many people were that day. Yes, people full of evil attacked the towers, but those towers were filled to the brim with goodness. Before exploring that website, I did not realize how much that was true.

I also think it's important to remember that the evil is perpetrated by only a few, not by the many.

I agree completely that one probably cannot grasp the day unless you were there. I had never been to New York when 9/11 happened; my first trip there was in 2005, so I can't comprehend how big they must have been.

Yeah it was horrific. But, you’re right. Humanity showed much good and much caring as well. Unfortunately evil is often much more destructive than good can ever compensate for. We’re a mixed bag for sure.

 

[Jambalaya]

Per what I wrote above about never having seen the Twin Towers in person, last night I started watching the National Geographic docuseries, 9/11: One Day in America that's been released for the twentieth anniversary. The amount of archival footage of the day is amazing. It's all captured.

There is a trigger warning at the start of each episode, but I feel compelled to give one here, too: Although there are no bad injuries shown, there are scenes and sounds of intense suffering, so proceed with caution.

The thing I liked about the first episode is that there is much footage of the North Tower lobby, and it was so beautiful! So light and airy. And the sheer scale of the place! Unimaginably large. I've never seen a building that huge. No wonder people didn't imagine they could fall. Although the context is the attacks, I'm grateful I was able to see some film of the Towers' beauty. (I have tried to look up photos online of the Towers and the complex, including interior photos, before the disaster, but the internet seems to be swamped with photos of the day and the aftermath.)

Watch 9/11: One Day in America TV Show - Streaming Online | Nat Geo TV

Watch full episodes of 9/11: One Day in America online. Get sneak peeks and free episodes all on Nat Geo TV.

www.nationalgeographic.com

 

[Jambalaya]

Unfortunately evil is often much more destructive than good can ever compensate for.

Well, the terrorists will never win. We will go on having our freedoms, girls will go on being educated, we will go on living our lives as we please, dressing how we please, marrying who we please. If their vision is to turn the West into some kind of Taliban-esque state, same as Hitler wanted to get rid of democracy, then like him they're going to be sorely disappointed. They might have attacked the Twin Towers, but we are still living in freedom. They failed. And in the twenty years since, there has not been another attack like that. Failed again.

 

[missy]

Well, the terrorists will never win. We will go on having our freedoms, girls will go on being educated, we will go on living our lives as we please, dressing how we please, marrying who we please. If their vision is to turn the West into some kind of Taliban-esque state, same as Hitler wanted to get rid of democracy, then like him they're going to be sorely disappointed. They might have attacked the Twin Towers, but we are still living in freedom. They failed. And in the twenty years since, there has not been another attack like that. Failed again.

We will never stop fighting I agree. I believe we will always have battles to fight. There will be more attacks I’m sure.
Unfortunately we’re fighting not only terrorists and evil outside of our country but inside as well. That new law in Texas is pure evil imo.

 

[Jambalaya]

This anniversary, being twenty years, will be a big one for the families of the victims, I'm sure. It's so sad.

 

[Jambalaya]

Remembering all those who died twenty years ago today - and those who currently have, or died from, illnesses related to the aftermath.

 

[Calliecake]

The entire country joined together to help one another. Nothing else mattered more than helping each other. September 11 was a horrible day but the days that followed brought out the very best in everyone.
I will never forget all the acts of kindness.

 

[Polished]

Planes going into buildings, planes being bombed out of the sky etc are chosen for a reason. It causes maximum drama and in a media driven age it gets maximum coverage. This can give the impression that evil is prevailing over decent behaviour but as Callie points out in the aftermath of the tragedy the best of human nature was on display. All this just happened without fanfare.

 

[Jambalaya]

Yes, and if you read survivor stories, the acts of bravery and kindness under circumstances of extreme stress make you realize how good so many people are.

I feel so sorry for anybody affected by 9/11. I know that most who endured the day and were lucky enough to survive have rebuilt their lives twenty years on, but some people faced additional challenges. One child who lost her father on 9/11 lost her sister a few years later. The sister choked to death in a charity pancake-eating competition at college. And you probably remember the famous photo of a well-dressed young women looking like a marble statue, she was so covered in dust. Her name was Marcy Borders, and she was 28. After the trauma of 9/11, she suffered severe depression and turned to crack, and her daughter was taken away from her. She did get sober and regained custody, but died age 42 of stomach cancer.

104 children of 9/11 victims were born in the months after. Not only did they not know their parent, of course there aren't even any photos of them together. In one case, a woman who lost her husband only found out she was pregnant two weeks after 9/11. That girl, who is now 20, said in a recent interview that it hurts how her father never even knew about her, but her older sister has photos with their father and even though she doesn't remember him, he knew about her and she has those photos.

It's all so desperately sad.