I remember. We live by the airport. I would never oversleep because there was one flight that would always wake me up. I over slept they stopped all air traffic. I remember my husband waking me up. We watched for days with tears in our eyes. With thoughts of who could be so evil to even think of this. I remember when I woke up calling all my family members. Many fly all over the country for work. My brother missed his flight thank god... His son called him right before he was to get on. His son was sick. He would have been on the plane that hit the Pentagon. I know every 9-11 he hugs his kid and says Thank You.... As well as say our prayers.
The only good thing that came out of 9-11. Once a year our country becomes united. It doesn't matter what your politics are. We all felt 9-11 and remember the pain. Once a year we all become human.
I truly wish that was the case, but there are far too many people who use the tragedy as a money maker...from the bloggers with an agenda asking for donations to "keep the message alive", to the politicians posting "tributes" on Youtube complete with campaign ads and website links, to the creep in front of the mall selling flags made in China...the 9-11 porn has been extra egregious this year.
Your brother sounds like a good guy, and I'm glad for your family that circustances kept him home.
The morning of the attack I had the Today Show on the TV, and I was trying to get the kid to admit that he wasn't really sick, he just wanted to stay home from school. Today cut to a live shot of the first tower in flames. As we watched, another plane came on the screen, and as the kid was saying, "That plane looks awfully close...WHOA!" it hit the other tower. We watched for awhile in stunned silence, then the kid just got up, grabbed his book bag, kissed me on the cheek, and took off for school. He needed to be around his friends. I went to work, but no work was done that day. We took the radio outside, put on NPR and sat in the grass, smoking and drinking cup after cup of coffee. And yeah, even I cried.
I wish, ten years on, we could get to the point where, instead of grieving, we could use this as a celebration of life....the lives of the victims, the lives of their families, the lives of everyone they touched, and the lives of everyone in every country that was targeted. Fanatics have always been with us, and they always will. The trick is to persevere, to live your life without fear of the other...because the fanatics can take your things, your property, your life...but not what makes you a human being.