11 Sept 01. It’s
been 12 years, an eternity, an instant.
The events still don’t seem real, and in very much a fashion, they
aren’t. In an instant my generation had
a moment akin to 22 Nov 63. There are
people who can tell you where they were, what they were doing, who they were
with, etc. How will my children
understand this? Will my children
understand the impact? My oldest daughter
was barely a month old and not even aware of the world outside her tiny
view. My other children have never set
foot in a world where there existed “the Twin Towers” outside of history books.
Terrorists, in a very real sense, sought to dismantle an
American way of life and in doing so slaughtered thousands of people. In the years since, the best men and women
this country could muster up went to war and some came home, some did not. All over this globe there are small patches
of earth that are distinctly American because a soldier with the stars and
stripes on their shoulder fell there.
This is not a new concept, or a new thought process. War has been war since the dawn of time.
What is different, now, is that it is people I know,
people I have loved, people whose faces are now imprinted on my mind, hiding in
the dark recesses of my mind, whose ghosts come to see me at night. These are the people who are paying the price
for war.
What I would say, though, to the terrorists that purport
to their ability to destroy America is this:
You can’t. You won’t. Because in all of the pain, intolerance,
resistance that you have caused the American people; all the new laws, rules
and hassles that abound, you will never be able to see inside the heart of the
American spirit.
What you terrorists don’t see is that the blood of my
fellow citizens flows freely and while our society has been torn up and rent
inside and out, we will make it bigger, better, stronger. We are resistant to change, but physics tell
me that most things are. But we can
adapt, we can grow. Where you see only
hate, we see opportunity. Where you see
hatred, we see an opportunity for love.
Where you see an enemy I see a person to not judge.
What the terrorists of 11 Sept 01 did was bring a country
together, even if only for a brief amount of time, and remind them what great
things they can be capable of. As the
WBC did so recently in my city, the terrorists unified its members for the
forces of good. So while you terrorists
seek to destroy and maim what we know is good, we will always rebuild and go
on. My children will grow in a world
that knows about you but they will also know about the love and the greatness
that this nation has to offer.
To the terrorists:
you failed. You tried to break
the American spirit and you couldn’t.
Each time you bloodied us, we got up.
Each time you jabbed at us, we punched back. Each time you insulted us, we smiled and
said, “Thank you, sir. May I have
another?” You taught me not to hate, but
rather to take all life for the precious gift it is. You have shown me that there is still good
left in my society, because when you came to our door, my brothers and sisters
of this nation answered.
God / Allah / Heavenly Father, whatever name you attach
to a supreme being, or don’t, is a being of love and benevolence, and it
saddens me that you will never be able to realize that gift. These last 12 years have taught me to never
forget that lesson.
To the thousands who have perished in this nation’s quest
for peace, your names will ring loud in Heaven and on this day, remember those
who were lost. Share the stories so that
our children never forget and that they always remember the gift we do have.
© 2013 p.hill
