Thoughts on the Anniversary of 9/11 (First written in 2012, updated 9/11/2017)

Sixteen Years Ago: In Memory of Those Who Lived and Died on September 11, 2001

A Facebook group (link no longer works) published a list of the names of those killed on September 11, 2001.

I kept that list open all day September 11, 2012, and I read through and contemplated those names during the day.  I managed to get through the F's. 

As I read, I reminded myself that each of those names was a person, a person with dreams, hopes, loves, frustrations, just as you and I have dreams, hopes, loves, and frustrations.  Most of those people experienced extreme fear, pain, or suffering... fear and suffering that most of us will never know... in the last few minutes of their lives.  We know of the heroic actions of some-- but many more may have acted heroically-- and we will never know.     

They all had friends or family.  Those friends and family members were terrified that morning as they tried to get hold of their loved ones and tried to determine if the person was lost, injured, or dead. Many searched for days and would not give up. Most were never able to bury any piece of their dead loved ones.

The children of the 9/11 victims have grown into teenagers and young adults, some of them have become husbands, wives, and parents themselves.  Some of the  spouses, girlfriends and boyfriends of the 9/11 victims have gone on to marry others; some of their parents have grown old or even passed on.  

Life has somehow continued for their loved ones and for the rest of us. But those 2700 people will forever be, in the minds of those who loved them, the vital, living, loving people they were on that beautiful clear morning of September 11, 2001... before the airplanes hit.

God bless them, and may they all rest in peace.