Tuesday, September 11, 2007

in remembrance


6 years ago today, i was sitting at my desk, rubbing my gravid belly, postponing the start of my workday. it was with great skepticism that i heard someone exclaim that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. i called kisu at home to see if this was a hoax.

sadly, it was not. i spent the rest of the morning downstairs, in the bosses' private lounge, watching the horrific events unfold on tv.

i was worried. i worried for the people i knew living in new york. i worried for the people i didn't know living in new york. later i worried for the emergency responders in new york. i worried for the emergency responders not in new york, who were already mobilizing to help the stricken city in whatever ways they could.

i worried for my unborn child. what kind of world were we bringing her into? a world that could produce hate and contempt on such a grand scale. a world that contained people who so reviled other people that they were willing to sacrifice their own lives to bring about the death and downfall of those others.

6 years later and i still worry. it's not in the front of my mind all the time, but i still think of it. i pray for those who were lost during those attacks.

i pray that my children learn from those events, and the events that have followed. i pray that i can teach them tolerance for others, for our differences. i also pray that i can teach them to stand up for what's just, to be strong for themselves, and for others who lack the strength. i pray for them to be better people than i am.