 Tower 1 under construction in 1970 |
I had planned to post Part 2 of my first Sunday Evening Food for Thought, but then I remembered that this Sunday is September 11th. That day. That day that we all sat around the television, horrified. That day when my teenage daughter’s best friend came over to my house crying and afraid. That day when I almost went to my children’s schools and brought them home, not because I believed they were in danger, but just because they were the most important thing in my life. That day when America shed the last of its innocence.
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In 1970 my Dad took our family to New York to see the Statue of Liberty. However, being a Civil Engineer, the most exciting thing about New York City for Dad was seeing the Twin Towers (World Trade Center) under construction. He was very animated that Autumn day and took many photos of tower 1. The above photo is one of two that still remain.
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During his relatively short life of only 53 years, my dad saw much of the world. He was a veteran of the Korean War, something about which he never spoke. My mother has said that in the early years of their marriage Dad would wake up in the middle of the night screaming, thinking that he was still in Korea, still fighting a war with no clear end. After Dad graduated from college, his civil engineering job took him, and us, all over the United States. In the last 6 years of his life, he worked for Aramco in Saudi Arabia.
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Sometimes I wonder what Dad would have said about the attack on the World Trade Center. In my mind’s eye I can see him, probably sitting silently staring at the television into the wee hours of the morning, knowing in his heart of hearts what awaited us in the days and years ahead. He had seen war, he had experienced the mindset of middle eastern culture, and he was well educated in American politics.
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Out of all of the things that have happened since 9/11, there is one leading thought that I have at this time. That thought centers around what we have done and are doing to each other, as Americans. In the beginning we banded together in purpose to protect ourselves and our country against a malevolent and deliberate enemy. It did not take us long to devolve into finger pointing at each other and forgetting to ‘never forget’.
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What is to be the cost of forgetting? Internal hemorrhaging can cause death just as surely as, and more insidiously than, external wounds.
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So, this Sunday gather together with your family and remember what happened on 9/11. Tell the story of where you were and how you felt. Take the time to honor those whose lives were taken and those who willingly gave up their lives in the service of their country and their fellow man. Enumerate your blessings and offer a prayer of gratitude. And while you are praying, ask for clarity of thought and courage of spirit to focus on the principles on which this nation was founded.
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“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
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| My Dad, William Emsy Cook, circa 1951. |
All content copyright 2011 by Terri @ that’s some good cookin’
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