Remembrance

Normally i try to make my posts funny and witty (you may argue that they simply aren’t, but then what are you doing reading this?), however today is going to a solemn post as if you haven’t noticed today is 10 years on from the 9/11 terrorist attacks.Whilst people may argue whether the gulf war that followed this attack was right or wrong, i will not be discussing any of these things in this post. This post will just be about that terrible day.

Now, for those of you who don’t know, i was living in California in 2001 and despite my poor memory, i remember this day quite quickly. I remember waking up, and walking into my living room to find the TV on with the news on. And of course on the news was the pictures of the twin towers with smoke bellowing out of the north tower, and then the plane hitting the south tower.

I didn’t go to school that day, i just sat at home watching the events unfold. Apart from what I've said i don’t remember much else from that day, i was just stunned by what i was seeing. However, i do remember an unusual feeling, i remember watching the selfless helping of the fire-fighters and others feeling proud of being ‘American’. I now realise that the feeling was not of pride of being ‘American’, but that of pride of being human. Many other events have happened since then to confirm this. Whilst these events are dark hours in our history, they bring out the best in human nature. Normally people view humanity as selfish and uncaring, as this is what is seen in day to day life.

But that is not all of human nature, human nature also encompasses compassion and selflessness for those in need, and this is what was seen 10 years ago. Everyone who could help did, and everyone who couldn’t joined together in support and remembrance. 2997 people died that day, of which many were rescuers. So i urge you to think back and remember not only the loss of that fateful day, but also the selflessness of those rescuers, and I'll leave you with a quote which sums up my feelings:

“Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It’s a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend–even a friend whose name it never knew. “
- President George W. Bush, December 11, 2001