Thursday, September 11, 2008

Thankful Thursday



Thankful today to honor the memories of the fallen Americans. It's hard- every year it hits me hard just like the first 9/11. So much loss and so hard to comprehend.
I had only been at this job for a few weeks when it happened. I never watched the news in the morning, but I did that day and I didn't know why. It was just moments after the first plane hit. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. At that point it wasn't even known what kind of plane it was. I woke up Earl because it was so surreal. Carmen asked if the tower would fall and I said, "Of course not!" It seemed incomprehensible. I took her to school and when I got back, I got Eric up for school. More news was coming in. It was becoming apparent that this was not an accident, but a terrorist attack. I remember questioning whether to take Eric to school and whether to go to work- would it be safe? But I decided that I wouldn't be ruled by fear- if I were, then "they" would win. Win by terror. So I took Eric to school and I went to work and it was horrible, but I'm so glad I did.
My heroes are the passengers of Flight 93- regular Americans who demonstrated the ultimate bravery; they sacrificed their lives so that others could live. Yeah, hard day today, but I remain thankful.


"We can be changed by what has happened to us,

but we refuse to be reduced by it."

(paraphrase of a quote by Maya Angelou)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lovely quote Bettsi. I like that you were not going to be ruled by fear. I think it's a good way to approach life.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

"Magnolia" said...

Beautiful post, Bettsi.