Remembering

It seems like I come to this day every year and no matter what else is going on in my life I find myself thinking constantly in moments of idleness about the terrorist attacks in New York and D.C. on September 11, 2001.

It amazes me sometimes because I didn't even live in the US at the time. I was in college in Ontario and had already had one early morning class that day. I was driving from campus to my guitar lesson listening to a CBC interview and they cut in to say that a plane had crashed in to the world trade center in New York.

I thought like everyone thought that it must have been a small plane accident. A small plane losing control and crashing. At the guitar store we watched the second plane hit. We watched the towers fall. In real time....no delays or scripted commentary. It felt like the world stopped and in some ways it still feels like it has.


















In completely selfish ways I feel the slight annoyances and bumps. The longer wait times at airport security, 3-1-1, immigrating to the US after 9-11, trying to open a bank account, all of these things were a different and more challenging experience in a post 9-11 world.

And some days I'm annoyed...I'm impatient and self-centered.

But today, I'm sad and I feel much appreciation. I may not agree with the war but I am thankful for the members of the armed forces who give their service and their lives. I feel appreciation for all of the law enforcement officers who daily work to protect us. Who were literally doing their jobs that day and gave their lives.

And I feel hope. I have HOPE that we are moving forward as a country. A country I now call home. I have HOPE that this upcoming election will more this country forward in a positive way.

Sometimes I get very maudlin and upset by my job....it's a hazard getting to exposed to the most horrible acts that people do to each other every day. But I'm hanging on to hope...hope that we as a people can do better and be better.
And I'm grateful.