I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when the planes hit the twin towers in New York on September 11, 2001. Like those who remember exactly where they were and what they were doing on November 22, 1963, or December 7, 1941. Like many people I know and love, for me today is a day of remembrance and reflection.
I heard about the first plane hitting one of the twin towers and then watched on TV as the second hit. I was standing in the booking room of the Placer County Jail, only three months or so after I was promoted to Lieutenant.
Even now, in remembering that moment, that day, that time I get that same feeling …. and this is what I miss most about my career in law enforcement. The moment -- the images that are burned most clearly in my memory is of emergency workers as they ran towards the disaster while thousands fled in panic. It is that “family” that I miss and those “brothers and sisters” that I never knew that I mourn.
All I really wanted to do that day was to be there, to help, to join that law enforcement family as they grieved the loss of their brethren and continued to work tirelessly to help survivors. I felt helpless as I watched on TV from 3000 miles away.
With deepest gratitude to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
All gave some …. Some gave all.
I couldn't agree more. Even in post retirement with a 2 1/2 year old Daughter to think about, my first impulse was to throw on a uniform and bee line to the nearest airbase to report. It is that dedication to duty that made us who we are and who we have become. I was listening to an interview with Oprah on t.v. last night and she said something that wasn't super profound but hit my core just the same. She said
ReplyDelete"We become who we are, not by triumphs and celebrations but one by one it's because of the events we survive. I look at the circumstances that I felt would destroy me and said "Look World! I am still standing ...... Bring it!!!"
I am sure everyone can relate to that on some level. I know I did. Glad we are still standing Julie. Come heartbreak, come flood, come Cancer, come Shark ;-). I am happy to be standing with you.
Dee
I also never forget that day. I remember coming into work & settling in at my desk as always; my boss was downstairs watching TV drinking coffee (the office was above his garage) when he came bounding up the staircase and told us we "had to see this!" I remember feeling scared as the minutes ticked by, watching those towers fall, yet at the same time I recall thinking to myself that I'd finally been allowed to see my boss' house. Weird.
ReplyDeleteI remember where I was, too. I also remember thinking that this was the defining event of my adult life. How depressing.
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