I was staying in a small hotel in Texas on 9-11…having never been to NYC size, volume, and address wasn’t something I knew, like I knew Los Angeles, or San Diego, or Indianapolis, or Louisville, etc.  And yet, I knew life was changing, for me and for every living person on this planet.  Happy kisses goodbye and pats on toddler’s heads, usually a ‘sweet’ habit, became a piece of history to relive for comfort. Answering machines and phones, held moments worth more than gold itself. The smell of bedclothes, the special tie, the favorite box of cereal, became monuments.  Family pictures, clothes in the laundry, drawings on the fridge, and the church  meeting notice, became items on the alter of rememberance.

Oh how my heart ached for those living and dying.  Oh how I admired the courage, the calmness, and the action, to continue the belief of dedication to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

And now today, on 9-10 we begin to gather to salute our fallen heros….those who were not in the battle of dying that morning, but who arose to live and love in this country called America.  They live on in my mind as soldiers of freedom, their forfeiture of life, the ultimate gift to each of us. They stood tall, side by side, managers, firefighters, typists, associates, drivers, police, receptionists, tourists,  secretaries, cooks,  and  even the unborn. They lived in died in and for freedom, and it is up to us to carry on in their footsteps.