My Instead: I handed a small American flag to a man walking his dog and simply said "Remember 9/11".
What a day this was
thirteen years ago…9-11. The day the earth stood still. I remember all-to-well,
as most of us do that were there to witness this atrocity on our TV screens. It
hit me hard because my daughter Robin and I had just been to New York City the
Saturday before that fateful Tuesday in 2001. As a matter of fact, I still had
film in my camera to be developed containing majestic photos of the Twin Towers
taken from the tour boat.
My brother Dale has a
birthday on this day and that is usually a nice distraction from the horrific
memory that tends to seep in every year on September 11th. I gave my
brother a call and our conversation was enjoyable as usual. He was in a good
mood and looking forward to spending the evening with his entire family for
dinner at his daughter Christine’s house. I was happy for him and his wonderful
life.
Earlier I had picked up
four 99 cent American flags, not really knowing what I was going to do with
them. Then I thought about handing them out to whomever and saying “Remember
9-11”. I was in the store parking lot and no opportunity arose to do so. I
thought about handing one to the people in the car next to me at a stoplight…didn’t
feel right. Then I pulled onto the street before my subdivision to go home a
different way and I spotted this 40-something man walking his dog. I pulled
over and handed him one of the small flags. He looked at me and said thank you
with his voice and with his eyes. I finally uttered “Remember 9-11”. He said
thank you again and slowly returned to walking his dog.
An American tragedy witnessed then...remembered and shared now.
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