25 Years After September 11

Twenty-five years after September 11th, a lady named Kristen in our little community organized a Remembrance Walk at the school track. 

Several of our family decided to join the walk. 

I started to ask different people walking where they were on that notorious day, September 11th. Not one had to search their memory very far. The day was seared into all of our memories! One lady said she was living in North Dakota at the time, and was preparing for the funeral of a country singer's ex-wife's mother that September 11th. Another lady was the librarian in our local school, and she was told to turn on the TV for the whole school because "something was happening." School was rather chaotic the rest of the day!

Our pastor's wife said she was working at her job in the courthouse that day 25 years ago when news came of the disaster. An impromptu prayer meeting was called outside the courthouse, and 75 people showed up to pray that day here in White River!

I told people our own story--how our Rose had turned one month old that very day, and Jonathan hadn't even reached the end of Sweet Road when the radio in his truck was blaring the news. He called me on the phone (something like our little granddaughter was pretending to do today in the parking lot of Big R in Colorado where that same Rose was purchasing feed!) to let me know the World Trade Center had been hit by airplanes. He came home from work quite early that day because no one knew what was going to happen next, and we just wanted to be together as a family. I will never forget the awful images in the newspapers the next day--of airplanes crashing into towers, of towers collapsing, of people jumping from windows. 

Today we got together with others to remember.

Kristen had determined to try, along with others, this year to walk a mile for each person who died on that day. By getting others to join her, they have surpassed that number, and today, about 15 or 20 more joined and walked four laps around the track, which was a mile. Even Jonathan joined us, one day post surgery--because the surgery was not nearly as extensive as had been expected. And I managed to walk, too, two weeks post chemo, but the breeze had kicked up and brought a little cooler air in. 

Kristen had brought some note cards with various sobering or fascinating statistics from that awful day. A friend took this picture of us four trying to hold the notes close together for a picture of them!

102 countries lost citizens in the attacks.

343 firefighters were killed on 9-11 (and about 1400 more died in the next three years from inhalation of dust, smoke, and chemicals). 

About 17,400 people were in the towers at the time of the attack.

Two guide dogs, Salty and Roselle, guided people out of the towers. 

Today, 25 years later, I got this picture of a blooming purple orchid my husband had gotten me a couple weeks ago, with the pink-tinted clouds of morning behind. 

Thank You, Lord, for every bit of peace our nation enjoys at this time, but help in every place where there is even at this moment war, disaster. and distress.

As we remember September 11th, remember those!

In Christ's name, Amen.