Remembrances 10 Years After

I still remember the details of this date 10 years ago.  Early in the morning, I was woken up by Clark's phone call.  He had gone to NYC for a business trip and had to spend his birthday there.  I wished him happy birthday half asleep then he told me that a plane crashed into WTC and asked me to turn on TV.  He said he was all right but might not be able to call home for a while as the circuits would be very hard to get through.  I acknowledged, thinking it must be a careless pilot of some tour jet, while I turned on TV.  Then I was totally waken up by what was showing on the news.  The second plane was flying straight into the other tower!  Hollywood movie?!  That was my first reaction although I knew it wasn't.  As I watched the news, my worry grew even though I knew Clark was 50 blocks away from WTC, far enough for him to only know about the incident afterwards and that I had just talked to him and knew he was all right.  He finally safely arrived home a week later after getting stuck there for a few extra days.  While in Manhattan, Clark walked towards ground zero and took some pictures along the way.  The only meal he could get that day was a cold sandwich at a KFC.  A birthday mixed with terror, sorrow, vulnerability, strength, bravery and heroicness marked a turning point in life.



10 years later, our kids were looking at the pictures with us when we told them what happened.  Our boy asked, "Are those bad guys flying the airplanes?"  I answered,"They were not bad guys before.  They probably had families and friends killed in wars so they were sad and hated the people who killed their families.  But they filled their heart with so much hatred that they turned to the dark side and became terrorists.  Just like Anakin Skywalker."  His world is still black and white but the world around is not.  When he finds out the grey in the world as he grows, I hope he will learn to forgive but not forget; to remember but not revenge.