September 11th

Today we remember all those that were lost on September 11^th, 2001.  I can remember that day as if it was yesterday.  I was attending an all YMCA staff day at the Stokes Family YMCA when we got word that something was happening in New York.  One the ladies from another Y got a call in the middle of the meeting and ran out crying because she had family in New York.  I remember that they would not stop the meeting or allow us to go out and see what was going on.  When we had breaks myself and a couple of others would go into the workout room and watch on the TVs what was going on.

I was shocked because it  look like something out of a movie.  It was so hard to believe that here in front of us, planes where crashing into the World Trade Centers in New York City.  I can remember not wanting to go back into the meeting but wanting to stay there in front of the TV.  When we got back to the YMCA we were told to not put it on the TV so the youth could see it but I knew that this was historical event (although a bad one) but one that would be put in the history books, so we had in on the TV.

For the next week I listened to it on the radio and watched the coverage on TV.  The lost of the victims, the heroes that helped to find the victims and the ones that responded first, who were lost in the collapsing of the buildings weighted heavy on my heart.   I hoped that I would have the courage to help those in need if I was put in that position.

I have always been an emotional person.  I dream of a day when I will make a difference in people’s lives the way that those that helped on September 11^th did.  I am so proud to be an American and to know that in today’s society that there are people willing to risk their lives for others.  I am thankful to our police, firefighters, and first responders for laying their lives on the line for me and everyone else.  Thank you for the difference that you make in all of our lives.

I am thankful for and in awe over the story of Welles Crowther who put his life on the line when he decided to go back up into the tower to save others instead of taking the opportunity that he had to escape the towers.  He went up the tower two times to bring people down to safety before he was killed in the collapsing of the tower.  Welles ever since we was a little boy carried a red bandana.  He was wearing that red bandana on the he was killed.

I want to carry a red bandana.  I want to remember a person like Welles and the sacrifice he made by giving his life so that others could live.  I hope that I have the conviction in life that if I were ever in that situation, that I would do the same thing.  I would give my life for my fellow man, that I would make that ultimate sacrifice for others.   God Bless you Welles, God Bless America, and God bless all those that lost their lives on the day the earth shook.