I Remember

I wish I had my camera on my way home tonight.  A sight that truly surprised me.  One of the overpasses that links the light rail to the other side of I-25 was completely covered in American flags, with about a dozen people on it waving more flags with one hand and waving to the cars below with the other.  There was a banner that said "We Remember".  Simple, no other words needed.

Earlier this morning as I was doing paperwork at my desk, I watched reruns of the memorial service on the internet.  Some of it was very moving, but nothing to make me cry.  Until they showed the actual ABC coverage of that horrible day.  I was working at Target, watching it all unfold in the breakroom (I was suppose to be taking out the breakroom garbage) on Sept 11th.  As I watched the rerun of the second plane coming in, my mind wandered back to that day, and the horrible image that has haunted me for the past ten years came full blown.  And I cried hard for a solid ten minutes, unable to do my work briefly this morning.

The image that has stuck in my mind is watching in horror all those people jumping from the windows.  I've often wondered if they were already dead and were blown out of those windows, or if they made the decision to jump.  Much like the biblical Masada.  I've wondered if I could make such a choice.  Do I jump from 90+ stories to a certain quick death?  Do I try to climb down the inferno?  Do I hunch up in a ball waiting for the inevitable flames, passing out from the smoke and heat?  What would you do?

I can't even fathom making those kind of choices.  But history shows us that many peoples have had to make similar choices.  Today, as I watch reruns of the service, admiring the memorial park with it's great pools and etched names, gawking at the wonderful building soaring high above the new trees, reflecting on the old tree that survived and what it stands for (many more people survived than died), I can't help but think how lucky we are in this country.  We might have some problems with government, economy, joblessness, etc., but we are still standing strong!  And those dozen people on that overpass just proved it to me. 

I'm still proud to be an American.  "I Remember"