Go Forward With Courage

I used to hate the way the media would tear open the national wound of September 11th every year. In the years since it happened, I have always just tried to go about my regular business of work and laundry or whatever it was that I had going on that day. I never wanted to re-live that day. I hated the way that politicians used it to promote the agendas, and I hated the media because I suspected that they were milking the footage from that horrible day to increase the ratings. I thought that Americans had failed to move past that tragedy, and that the attention to the event diminished the real grief that the family and friends of the victims should have claimed as their own. To me, grief is private, something that you share with only your most intimate friends and family, and I felt and still feel today that we owe the family members some privacy.

There are some things I just don't like to remember.

It's not like my experience was horrible or anything, my family and friends all survived that day. Being in close proximity to the Pentagon was nothing like being down the street from WTC that day, but the fear of something that we had never experienced before in our peaceful lives freaked a lot of us out. Sitting in my car that day after being told to evacuate my building in crawling traffic with the sounds of fighter jets overhead was something I had not experienced before. The last conversation I had with my partner A. before the phone lines became jammed, was her crying and telling me that she and her co-workers were being told to walk as far away from the city as fast as possible. I spent 2 hours in traffic with my windows rolled up tight,( I thought that there was a possibility that there might be deadly poisons or even some radiation in the air) and made it home to find A. not there, and the phone circuits still busy.

At the end of my day the love of my life came home, and my life continues, and we had a happy ending to be grateful for.

There are that those that did not have a happy ending to that day, and although I understand that the nation should grieve for our fellow citizens lost, I believe we who did not suffer that day should have a little respect for the ones who did. What is wrong with a simple moment of silence? Why not say a prayer or make a wish for the people who were really hurt that day? Why re-create the fear? We must all know by now that no National Guard can protect us from human beings that mean to kill us if they are truly determined, and anyone who has ever lived in New York knows that you can't walk the streets at night if you don't know the way. Why fear what we already know is out there? Why not believe in the freedoms that make this country great? Why don't we walk the streets of the world not with weapons pointing at every shadow, but with pride in our way of life? Why don't we protect our children with a good moral compass and a strong national defense, and teach them that if we bully the smaller nations of the world, we will always have to take care when we are walking on the dark streets of the world? If we had had faith in our way of life 5 years ago, we would not have set out on this course that has not made us safe, and never will. Today we must gather our family and friends close to us and walk the streets like you do in New York, with one eye on the street behind you, and one eye on the next wonderful thing around the corner.

We can creep forward in fear, or we can walk the street with courage. We're Americans, and I think we know which choice is right.

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