story5059.xml

story5059.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

It was just about 8:50 A.M. when my daughter and I pulled into the drive thru at a donut shop - something we did religiously every morning before school. While waiting to pull forward, I turned on the radio and that's when I heard the DJ reporting about a plane that had struck one of the towers in New York City. It did not register at first the magnitude of the incident until she said that it appeared to be atleast a 737, maybe even a 757. Immediately, I turned the station to see if this was just a random report or if it indeed carried some weight. I was stunned to hear that just about any station I could tune into was broadcasting on the same information. It was about this time that I returned to the original station and it was then that the DJ cried out , "My GOD! Another plane has just stuck the second tower!" My daughter looked at me with question and concern and asked,"Daddy, did those people die?" - she was only 6 at the time. I soon realized that evryones world had changed forever in some form or fashion. My wife called me on the cell phone in tears presumeably in shock of what just occurred. I supppose that being prior military memebers ourselves, we seemed to take it a little harder than others around us. I find myself scanning images in my head of news footage, interviews and photos of the worst possible shots and sometimes wonder what I would have done, - what could I have done? It saddens me the worst to think of those that were clinging to the outsides of the building as it was engulfed in horendous flames. I only find comfort in the explanation that I have created myself for those who chose to leap hand in hand. It is this - I believe that as they peered over the ledges, what they saw was not hundreds of feet of distance and smoke, but a softness of light accompanied by angels and the hands of God. Of all the individuals that were photographed falling or leaping, the body motions appeared to be calm and relaxed. As hard as it is to think of this as I write, I find comfort and ease with this vision. These days, I find myself in silence a little more than before, perhaps alot more reflectful of things past and things that matter most in life.