Has it really been 15 years since the day that changed the world?
I had just turned 47 in July, feeling vital and free, as I left my house that beautiful Tuesday morning, en route to work.
Needless to say, that job never happened, as I was stopped by a man who said, we were under attack and should collect our loved ones and get ready to leave.
Leave?
My loved ones, at the time, consisted of Missy the Cat who was certainly going wherever I was going.
Once what happened set it, I flew to Petco to buy a carrier as they were about to re-bolt the doors.
“NO NO,” I screamed…as a sweet, young man let me in. That’s one of the things I remember so well about the day…how kind and helpful we all were to each other.
To paraphrase Theodore Roosevelt…
We Stood at Armageddon, and we battled for the Lord.
After a friend came to find me, explaining, yes we were attacked, but no…we didn’t have to leave our homes, we went to donate blood that, alas, by evening realized, would not be needed after all.
2,996 people died that day.
246 on the four planes.
2,606 in New York City.
125 at The Pentagon.
Imagine those waiting for loved ones who never came home.
I went to the World Trade Center site where The Freedom Tower now stands, like I do every year, to pay my respects, wishing they had left it the sacred burial ground it will always be.
I feel them. The jumpers…those going in to help who never came out.
“You’re so maudlin Susannah,” a friend said, “can’t you just let it go?”
Let it go?
I will never let it go.
When I think of those people divinely chosen, to be sacrificial lambs losing their lives on that fateful mourn, I bray in humility.
3,051 children lost parents that day.
1,609 a spouse or partner.
343 were Firemen.
23 Policemen…along with one priest.
Let it go?
September 11th, 2001.
We bow our heads. 
SB
I remember racing to pick up my then 1st & 3rd graders from school. They were so scared and worried. Remembering those fearful little faces is a reminder that no parent should have to witness that in the eyes of their children. That includes parents in the Middle East. Humanity wears the colors of all nations.
Great piece Susannah.
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I never knew you were a teacher, the profession I admire most. Love what you wrote. Humanity wears the colors of all nations. Reminds me of that picture on the front of the New York Times of the kid all alone in back of that truck. How cruel we are. How bighearted we are.
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Oh lord I’m not a teacher! I would love to be but I curse too much. I was referring to my own kids.
It’s incredible how we can be so big and small at the same time. The photo of that boy should be enough of a message to everyone, sadly it’s not.
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Sorry I misunderstood. I feel the day bewildered how so many people don’t. Those that were here. How could you not be affected. For me it’s like a war wound.
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Oh, no need for apologies, that was a compliment.
War wound is right!
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Thanks Top.
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Beautiful tribute. Perhaps those of use who were old enough to understand feel it more profoundly. I had already moved from New Jersey at that point but my former neighbor worked at the Trade Center. It was a couple of weeks before I found out if he was ok (he was). I remember watching the TV scrolling the names of those who died searching for neighbors. And the feeling of hopelessness.
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Maybe it’s just too painful to remember for some. I knew two firemen who worked near me who didn’t make it out. The entire shift didn’t. The two I knew because they’d let me stop in to play with the firehouse cat they rescued from a fire that no one claimed . Sigh
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Reblogged this on Finding Myself Through Writing and commented:
I remember that day even though I was in Louisiana at the time, far away from the site. I remember exactly what I was doing at the time and I’m sure many of us have it embedded in our minds. It affected the world and I can not imagine what it must have been like for those close by as Susannah was. Let it go? NO. Thanks for the great post Susannah. ~Elle
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I just got an email saying I’m such a drama queen. It made me so mad, I broke a glass. Whether you were here or not, or in Washington or Pennsylvania, as Americans, we were attacked that day. A day, to borrow from FDR, that will live in infamy, says the drama queen.
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Gosh! What is wrong with people? Really! Do they have no heart? Just ignore it Susannah. I know that’s hard and it will stay with you for awhile, but people like that just want attention. And sadly, that is what is becoming of this world. No heart. No soul… It’s people who care that matter…to me anyway.
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I don’t know what to say. All those people perished in a blink of an eye while I still grace the earth. The least one can do is remember them…once a year if not always.
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While I understand and empathise with your compassion for those who lost so much that day, I worry that we’ve created another armistice day, where all the emphasis is on remembering and not nearly enough on learning anything. And so the carnage continues unabated.
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Ideally we should be able to do both.
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Of course we should. Maybe we need to find a way to wrest the commemoration from the talons of the hawks?
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I don’t know what to say except, it will always be a day I’ll remember no matter what the future holds.
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Susannah, such tragedy and sorrow on such a massive scale. The only way the horror of the memory will begin to diminish is when those of us old enough at the time to remember when it happened and the children of those taken are no longer on earth.
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Thanks for writing that Skinny. Hardly anyone read my post. No wants to be reminded I guess. Sigh
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That’s understandable. So much pain.
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What a touching tribute, Susannah. That was one of the worst days in my life that I will remember in every detail. I was working at a hotel then, just graduated from university. I only had two rooms to clean that day luckily, since it took all day to clean them. I went into the rooms, turned on the TV immediately. It was a scary time, still is in my memory. Thanks for writing this.
your friend
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Thanks for reading it. I felt the need to write for them. I can still hear those bagpipes from the funeral parlor on my corner. It still haunts.
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I thought of you all day on Sunday. The day is one that should never be forgotten. The events are seared into my mind, my memory. This was a beautiful tribute and memory. I so appreciate your writing. This is a difficult subject to write about, as it is so emotional, I fear I can never truly write about it like you, who were in the city and able to see, hear, smell and confront this.
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I do think those here have a different experience to recall. I immerse myself but others want to forget. I understand. I can still hear the wail of bagpipes. Talked about seared. You’re always very kind whenever you write to me. 🙂
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I just tell it like it is… I am certain the echoes of the bagpipes in your memories are haunting.
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I lived right near the funeral home where many of the firemen and policemen were. It went on for weeks.
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I can only imagine how painful it was. You truly shared in the grief of your city.
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This is true. You just couldn’t help it.
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When people say “never forget”…I almost want to response, “how can you”. I’ll never forget sitting in 8th grade science, when our teacher told us the news. I remember so much minute details about that down to what I was wearing. We had a fire drill that morning, even remember how good (quiet) we were during drill. We were told after the fire drill and I always wondered if this was the reason for the drill.
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It’s so poignant you remember all the details. It’s like when JFK died. I was in the 4th grade and can remember everything about that day in 1963. 🙂
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