nmah303.xml

nmah303.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-19

My wife and I were on an idyllic vacation on September 11. We had spent the evening in our motor home at Homolovi Ruins State Park in Arizona, and were planning to tour part of the Hopi Indian Reservation on 9/11. I turned on the television set and found myself looking at a Tom Clancy novel. It took me several moments to realize this was real. I woke my wife, and we sat in silence as we watched the first tower collapse. I had to leave. I took the dog outside shortly before my wife announced the second one had gone down. I figured they had killed up to 30,000 people. Thank God they did not.

Yes it has. I am somewhat reluctant to travel by airplane and when I do, find myself irritated for no good reason. My stock holdings have gone downhill, and my retirement has turned into something not so pleasant. I hold a bitterness toward our elected leaders that will not go away.

Not only should re remember the people who died on this day, we should remember a bureaucracy who was to busy covering its tail to protect the citizens it did not represent. 9/11 should not only be remembered as a "day of infamy", but also should teach all of us to never let our guard down again. Should teach us to try to understand people that are not like us, and help us teach them that we are not the people they perceive us to be. Learn also that our government is unable to protect us totally, and that we must take some responsibility ourselves.

Yes, I did. I fly it just about constantly.