9/11: Five Years Later

Its kind of hard to believe its already been five years. Time seems to both fly by and move very slow. My said that she could tell me exactly what she was doing when she heard that Kennedy had been assassinated, because the event was so remarkable that it just seared it into her brain. I was skeptical of that as even events that I believe where the most important thing to happen to me, I can only remember bits and pieces, not precise details of exactly what and when. Except 9/11. I know exactly what I was doing, when I was doing it, and the people in the room with me when I heard the news. Its strange to cause I wasn't near a TV so honestly did not believe what I was being told at the time. I called it an exaggeration by the press for ratings. Then I got home. Wow that was a long day.

So five years. The events that have followed as a direct consequence of this singular event are still echoing and only history will be able to put it in perspective. As each generation before I think, I hope the next never has to experience anything like this.

CNN.com is re-playing their coverage "live" using their pipeline service. I can't decide if its something I can watch or not. But I guess for those that missed the history, the reaction, and so forth, it might be worth watching.

Another memory I took not from the day but that period was the worldwide reaction. For the briefest of moments, mankind was one. For an instance, mankind where unified as one, even if in tragedy. If for nothing else can be learned, its that peace is possible, even if the struggle will be long and difficult. Its wasn't until recently, but I saw Jon Stewart's Daily Show a week or so after 9/11 and he nearly broke down trying to express himself and unlike most people a week after 9/11, his was a message of hope. That video is here.

A final memory that has stuck with me was when Britain who broke a historic tradition of the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. My local news only played a snippet, but I remember crying when I saw it. YouTube has a version and I think its worth watching.

7 Days In September

Those are my random thoughts for this day. What are yours?