story7404.xml

story7404.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-14

I was in my studio after having gotten my girls up to prepare for school. A message was being left on the answering machine, the voice was that of my mother urgently telling me to turn on the tv that the pentagon and WTC were being attacked. - then she hung up. I swiftly went to the tv and clicked it on. I could scarcely imagine what she had just said but now, on tv, were the pictures- my daughters and I watched and prayed. We saw the second plane hit the tower - it did not seem real, my mind could barely wrap around what I was seeing. My girls watched with a mature and compassionate seriousness for their ages of 10 and 7 and I explained as best I could but mostly we were silent. We heard of people jumping out of windows in fear of being burned to death - I was grateful such imagery was not shown for the dignity of families and these immediate victims. I felt sick. The knowledge was enough. People jumping to their death, trying to choose a more immediate way to die in their panic.
When the towers collapsed I knew that the numbers of people yet caught in those buildings were not likely to survive the severity - it was just too absolute.The buildingd disintigrated and melted away as if they were but made of sugar and not metal and concrete. The engulfing and sweeping cloud was like a monster, filled with minute pieces of concrete pulverized into sand and if that wasn't enough to choke the people I saw running for their lives from it, the smoke and jet fuel and other debris made it like the breath of Satan. The people looked like the images of Pompeii and the whirring of the fireman's alert alarms was deafening, even from the tv let alone, what it must have been like right in the mix of it all.
Later I saw the numerous members of family and friends going about with pictures of their beloved missing. It made me so sad I cried and cried.
When I heard the confirmation of responsibility belonging to Usama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda and their "reasons", their praising God as if He'd approve of this .. I wished the earth would open and swallow them up off in their caves hiding like cowards. I think they will be in for a very big surprise when they must give account to God for what they did and I do not think it will earn them martyr's crowns, nor heaven. I don't think such murderous deeds so pridefully done all for the agenda of selfishness merit anything eternally blessed.
America isn't perfect, our forces have done things I am not glad about and that I think have been wrong - but I'll tell you something - our nation has also, for all our faults, done more good, given more care, rushed to help than many a nation who don't bother to and we aren't usually shown any big thanks - usually it is criticism. We are told we only give because it is in a "selfish" interest of our Govt. Well, I don't dispute this but it is NOT the *only* reason we give and try to help - American's are made up of people from all over the world. Many of us have families/relations elsewhere and so we have the ability to look at the catastrophies and sorrows in other nations and see them as family.We realize, this could happen here. Americans for all our flaws are extremely warm and compassionate people and we just hate to not help when we see earthquake victims, flood victims, war victims.
I am proud I am a yank.No, our nation isn't perfect but we have a good and decent heart as a people made up from all over this earth.