I also woke up on one of the most sober days of the year. It made me consider that through God, it is our open, educated, curious, and vibrant society that gave me this beautiful day. My doctors were educated in the US, the drug was developed in the US, and those things are available to me because I live in the US. Now, while we may not always agree with how our health care system works (and I don't) it is a complex and awe inspiring (if not always in a good way) part of our culture. It was our culture that was under attack six years ago today, our way of life.
Today I was grateful to be able to celebrate and live an amazing accomplishment of our culture. The men and women that died that day died as martyrs for the American way of life. Today I remembered them and rejoiced in the power and majesty of what they died for. We became stronger as a nation that day not weaker, that is the greatness of the American people.
Since that day when we stood united there has been a lot of questions, a lot of confusions, a lot of noise. It was an event that we will never understand, nor will we ever fully understand the aftermath. There will always be unanswered questions, anger, and frustration, but I suggest that amidst all the contention we remember that we are blessed to live in a simply magnificent country and enjoy a lifestyle few others enjoy. Remember that. We are not perfect, perfection is impossible, but would you live anywhere else? I have lived abroad, I have experienced the "other way." I am proud to be an American and I will forever be grateful for the blessing of living in this blessed land.
On our recent trip to NYC we were able to visit the 9-11 visitor's center and look down into the hole that was once the WTC. It was sobering, it was difficult, and it was powerful. Not only did the victims and their families become very real, so did the impassioned response of the country. We were all victims to some extent that day. Our peace of mind, our confidence, our way of life came under attack that day. It changed all of us.
Like all tragedies, we all dealt with it differently. Some of us became patriots that day, some of became cynics. Some of us asked "how could this happen?" and some asked "how will we heal?" Some of us tore down walls of solitude and some of us built them up.
However, we all cried, either aloud or in our hearts, we all mourned, and we promised to never forget.
The heroes.
The wreckage- part of an airplane.
The unimaginable- a basket used to transport remains.
The grief- "missing" fliers.
The unchangable reality.
The response - 10,000 hand folded Japanese paper cranes.
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