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If Every Day Were September 11...

Posted by Leticia, 25 Sep

I didn't personally know anyone that died on that Tuesday, September 11th 2001. But I cried like a baby. Every anniversary I watch the special reports and I love to hear the stories that breakdown the numbers into people and give them faces and talks about who they were and who they left behind. And again I'm reminded of yet another thing that unites all the races...PAIN!

Pain, sorrow, grief and guilt. None of these feelings is identified with any one race or nationality. No race of people, has the market cornered or can lay claim to feeling pain to any greater or lesser degree than the other. As the saying goes: "It Is what it Is"! We all bleed red blood and when we are in pain, it hurts.

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Why does it take a catastrophe to bring us together? Not even the happiest of times or victories can do what a world disaster can. I mean, laughter does have its place and a way of making us see some of the silly things in others and ourselves. However, it's the true blue, down home pain that makes us re-think our way of living, question our past decisions and change our way of thinking about the future.

It must be something about the finality in the loss that rekindles memories of misplaced dreams. With all the gadgets and technology to make our lives easier and chores quicker, sometimes we forget that the lesson and the fun come from the blood, the sweat and the tears of the task. We get too busy making our way through this life...to live.

Sometimes I truly believe that we have race problems in our society because it's easier to deal with than real problems that we have no control over. Like lives loss, dreams deferred, and vanishing youth. If giving the opportunity we all grow old, we realize that there are some things that we can never do because of our height, weight, our propensity to learn, or our financial position and we all must die. We have no control over that.

We do however, have control over who we choose to NOT love, not share ourselves with, not be tolerate of and who we give power to, by allowing ourselves to hate. Do you really believe that if we killed every living terrorist in the world that we would be a more loving nation? Does a person that loathes interracial couples think that they would be loved any more if you loved someone else less? Of course we all know that if they only loved themselves more...they would be more likely to be loved by more people more often.

By now you're probably saying "Leticia, you're preaching to the choir". We already know that with love comes understanding and then compassion. Together these break down the barriers that cause fear. Has anyone else noticed that we've moved from being "one nation under God" to "one nation under fear"? We are even afraid to love, for fear of pain. Now that is scary.

Of course there are no easy solutions or answers. If there were we would have no need for websites that cater to bringing people of all races together...we'd already be there. Fearless, loving and being loved by people that excite us and give us faith, for faith is just inverted fear.

Five years ago almost three thousand people lost their lives. No one was counting how many were Black, White, Hispanic or Asian. No one mentioned which ones were Christians or Jews or Gay or Straight. They were mothers and daughters, sisters and brothers, fathers, sons and friends and it didn't matter then...why does it matter now?

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  1.   iceburger says:
    Posted: 09 Oct 06

    Why can we have oneness? Togetherness? I hate all this. Innocent victims.

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  2.   TrueHarmony says:
    Posted: 09 Oct 06

    That was one of the most scary and painful days of my life. I care not to elaborate...

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  3.   aantonio says:
    Posted: 09 Oct 06

    iTS A DAY EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD NEVER EVER FORGET. aS A NYER IT STILL HURTS, AND KNOWING THAT TO FRIENDS THAT I KNEW IN HIGH SCHOOL THAT WERE FIREFIGHTER WERE LOST THAT DAY :( GOD BLESS AMERICA

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  4.   Coco says:
    Posted: 09 Oct 06

    Remember how the pain of 9/11 brought our country together? Its a shame that it took something so tragic to do that...

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  5.   Mikey7777 says:
    Posted: 08 Oct 06

    I was an officer on duty that day and i saw first hand the evils of man kind. I also saw bravery by many good people trying to save those that died that day.I knew when we arrive at the site that there would be no one alive it was simple to hot however we continue to try and save anyone who might be alive.I hope we never forget that day because if we do there will be a repeat.These people have no respect for human life......

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  6.   ladyaly says:
    Posted: 08 Oct 06

    Sept 11th affected me, even though i did not lose anyone on that day, but my ex- b-day was that same day and plans was ruined, and i cried for all those people who had to die that day, it was the most horrible thing that could have ever happened to humans..

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  7.   Fala says:
    Posted: 08 Oct 06

    Only time will tell if the US learns any lessons from 9/11. Hopefully we will learn to do more than point out the differences between each other and realize how much more we have in common.

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  8.   DORA says:
    Posted: 07 Oct 06

    Thanks for giving me something to really think about. This is a good article.

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  9.   iceburger says:
    Posted: 06 Oct 06

    Thats a very good article. I do believe that we can never be able to know who actually a terrorist is. Out judgements are at times just so lame. In such, innocent souls are lost.

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  10.   Deena says:
    Posted: 05 Oct 06

    GOD BLESS THIS GREAT U.S OF A!! My prayers are still with everyone who lost a family member, friend and collegue.

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  11.   True says:
    Posted: 05 Oct 06

    Leticia, this article is so true.As Tim McGraw puts it, we truly should live like we were dying.

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  12.   yoby says:
    Posted: 04 Oct 06

    PEACE and LOVE to the ENTIRE world

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  13.   kenyanito says:
    Posted: 04 Oct 06

    why only september 11th? what of the kenyans and tanzanians who perished in 1998 august bomb blast? Its sad yes, but lets lump them all together

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  14.   embraceme says:
    Posted: 03 Oct 06

    THIS IS A SAD DAY TO REMEMBER..tHANK yOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO REMEMBER EVERYONE....

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  15.   ebonybeautyj says:
    Posted: 03 Oct 06

    Pray Americans pray especially for the land of Isreal-Gods land!

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  16.   babymeat says:
    Posted: 03 Oct 06

    may god bless all the victims and thier famalies.

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  17.   unme23 says:
    Posted: 03 Oct 06

    i still cry and weep when i always get reminded of that awful day.

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  18.   sweetest1 says:
    Posted: 03 Oct 06

    Unfortunately the lesson from the tragedy wasn't very long lived... people have reverted back to their usually self centered ways rather quickly. I still have the image burned in my head myself... I had just given birth to my daughter a few weeks earlier and I couldn't help but to question her future in this world and wonder what kind of world she would have to grow up in.

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  19.   Jonc007 says:
    Posted: 02 Oct 06

    I understand the pain, I understand the confussion, and I understand the feelings that people have about the war. But regardless of what side you are on realize that it is an neccesary evil until all people decide that hatred and death is not the way to get recognition. I want to "Give peace a chance" aand will do so as soon as they let me!! We can and should love each other regardless of race, color, relgion, or any other difference!!

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  20.   Sweetheart says:
    Posted: 02 Oct 06

    If everyday were 9/11 people would realize that life if to short to worry about stupid things and to be thankful for what they have.

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  21.   besweet says:
    Posted: 02 Oct 06

    It was a sad day , and it is true that race played no part in who was taargeted to die, or who stepped in to help all the victims. Our hearts went out to all no matter who or what race the victims were. Should be like that everyday.

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  22.   euroecuboy says:
    Posted: 01 Oct 06

    Yup I know about the pain. I have suffered during the war in southeastern europe that started back in 1992 when i was ten years old. It is terrible

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  23.   whytb0y says:
    Posted: 01 Oct 06

    I agree with ebonybeautyj prayer ,god see,s no race or status only a person , GOD see's the heart man sees the face and race.in the bible god commands us to be like christ and love our enemies check this out Luke 6:27-36 27 "But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. point is we as a people need to set our sights on god and stop living in division ,no one man is greater than the other ,a disater like the twinn towers proves that ,because race played no part in who was taken from this earth before their time.as i said , man see,s race,status and skin tone nobody takes the time to review another persons heart and whats inside the person.

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  24.   BABYMEAT says:
    Posted: 01 Oct 06

    IM PROUD 2 BE AN AMERICAN, AT LEAST I KNOW IM FREE.

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  25.   ebonybeautyj says:
    Posted: 30 Sep 06

    The other thing that unites us is prayer, and we can PRAY to God that another event doesnt occur.

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  26.   romeoluvs says:
    Posted: 30 Sep 06

    9/11 shouldnt happen anymore again. The pain, the sorrow people went through because of that and the aftermath cant be described in words.

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  27.   nursie says:
    Posted: 30 Sep 06

    All to close to my heart.... raw wounds... in more ways than one!!!

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  28.   xina03 says:
    Posted: 29 Sep 06

    thaks for the article.I;m from Ny and I was working in the World Trade Center.I feel like I'm blessed because I still have my life. Thank you again for this article.

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  29.   mossimo36 says:
    Posted: 29 Sep 06

    As much as 9/11 cost me professionally and personally, I have to be thankful that I still have my life. We are all truly blessed to still be here.

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  30.   justknowingu says:
    Posted: 29 Sep 06

    From "racial" issues that face America today, the tragedy of 9/11, the continuing loss of lives in Iraq--it does seem we are becoming one nation under fear-instead of under God........our country as whole clearly lacks directions and goals: crime and poverty in the US is still prevalent, drugs are still attained with relative ease(money talks), and corporate greed for profit abounds as well...while our educations system lags, US jobs are outsourced to other countries, our jails and prisons are overcrowded, the list just goes on and on....For that one day, 9/11 and the several that followed--our country felt a sense of urgency--TO UNITE--our country was being attacked!--And we felt good about ourselves and we were going to "get-er-done!!!"...Scrolling forward five more years....Not much has really changed the last five years....our country cant solve any problems---and makes them worse someitmes--like Katrina--THE MEDIA now focuses our attention more than ever on sports and "sensationalism" in the news....THE FAMILY UNIT AS a whole in America is distracted by all the "techno-gadgets"--we cant have Unity in our Country without unity in families, communites, cities and states!....America is "too spread out" and "undisciplined"--except when it comes to taxes and corporate Profit!---Current american leaders have so many "goals and interests"--that not one truly significant has been accomplished; our nat'l debt is higher, health insurance is way too high, the continuing iraq conflict, drugs and crime and global warming....race issues and tensions?!--Until our country and its political leaders start to discipline their own policies and forcibly meet their deadilnes and goals, Im afraid our compassion and heartfelt outpouring of grief and rage over 9/11 is clearly falling by the wayside....as we are as a country becoming weaker in the eyes of other countries as well as less disciplined and unified---

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  31.   browneye68 says:
    Posted: 29 Sep 06

    i also dont know someone personally who has lost someone on this bad day but i can still feel the pain of the ppl who had to go through it. the whole world was suffering with them and is still thinking about this day.... may it never happen again. im praying for it every night........

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  32.   JADE74 says:
    Posted: 29 Sep 06

    So true,NOTSHYTC.We all remember the moment and what we were doing when we heard about the planes and towers.We stopped for a while and came together, but we later went back to our old habits of not caring for others and having hateful behavior.

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  33.   notshytc says:
    Posted: 28 Sep 06

    I think everyone can renember where they were and what time it was when they heard about the towers. Remember how everything stopped and u felt numb?

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  34.   Kandi says:
    Posted: 28 Sep 06

    9/11 is everyday because somebody dies over something stupid.

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  35.   Ruben says:
    Posted: 28 Sep 06

    That day was a shock but not a surprise. It is a shame that is what it takes to open American eyes. Everyone runs around all patriotic, " God Bless America" this and that. When it happens to us, i.e. Americans, the reaction is how could they, why, but I guess is you're a terrorist for the U.S. then it's o.k. Everyone looks at it from our point of view but fail to think about what we have done to others to take such action.

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  36.   Coco says:
    Posted: 28 Sep 06

    I will always hold 9/11 as a very solemn day. I lost 5 friends and co-workers to that attack. It especially hurt because they did it in our own back yard. Now I can't watch the replays of the buildings collapsing. I can't watch anything that shows all the smoke pouring from Manhattan-smoke that I could see in New Jersey. Nothing will take away the pain of that day, but I hope the rebirth of the World Trade Complex will have a beautiful place where we all can go and remember those we knew and lost. Until then, I hope to see those beautiful blue lights shining above Manhattan, reaching to the heavens again in rememberance to them all.

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  37.   hazeleyes says:
    Posted: 28 Sep 06

    Amen!! And we will probably experience more national disasters to even bring the religious groups together who are really separated racially.

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  38.   BABYMEAT says:
    Posted: 28 Sep 06

    a day that is forever in my head. god bless the usa!!!!

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  39.   TheWriter says:
    Posted: 28 Sep 06

    I admire your insight, Leticia, and agree that pain does unite and unfortunately a great oppurtunity for nations to unite was lost when our leader shifted his focus. Being a former NY'er, I did know two people who died that tragic day, although it was a while before I found out. My bigger concern is our reaction to it...the slashing of our Constitution, the acceptance of torture and a nation making choices out of fear. Having spent time in New Orleans rebuilding it, I'm forced to ask why we have millions of dollars to spend daily "liberating" Iraq and yet pennies for our own country (and I would expand that to include schools and neighborhoods untouched by storms). Are there no easy answers..? Probably none that will be realized. But I'm reminded of a quote by a jewish rabbi, Shlomo Carlebach who said,"Many have come to honor the holiness of God and still there is no peace in the world. Many have come to honor the holiness of man, and still there is no peace in the world. When many come to honor the holiness of children, then, there will be peace in the world".

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  40.   Natural72 says:
    Posted: 28 Sep 06

    I agree Leticia...a life is a life and the WORLD suffered a lost on 9-11-01. I still mourn five years later. It does not matter what perceived differences the victims had then and it does not matter now.

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  41.   charlee1 says:
    Posted: 27 Sep 06

    i can still remember the shock and total horror that i felt when i came home on that day and switched the tv on. my kids were in the room and asked me so many questions as to why this had happened. i explained to them the best way i knew how, after all, they were only 8 and 9 at the time. but i also struggled to comprehend how and why members of the human race could inflict this kind of suffering on people who at the end of the day were just going about their normal business. even now to this day, i find it hard to watch the documentaries that they show on tv each year.

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  42.   marquez097 says:
    Posted: 27 Sep 06

    Despite the fact that many of us didnt lose someone on 9/11, we all were hurt in some way, shape or form. I remember just being in shock when I heard the reports of what happened as they were happening. My heart went out to the people that were inside the buildings and the ones involved in the rescue. This was a tragic moment in time for the US.

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  43.   Mike says:
    Posted: 27 Sep 06

    This is another snowjob designed to divert attention from the fact that the government was complicit in the destruction of the WTC buildings. Need proof? Both the pentagon plane and the Shanksville, PA planes (United planes) that supposedly vaporized on impact (an impossibility) are still flying today. Explain that away, gullibles. Start examining the facts.

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  44.   phillylady says:
    Posted: 27 Sep 06

    I lost my job, my career, my friends, my co-workers, my uncle. Each day is a testament that we must go on and try to make our paths a little brighter. New Yorkers like myself feel the pain each day that we look at the skyline and see the towers missing and we must never forget the men and women who woke up that morning and went to work and never came home... Everyone that was affected didnt have to be there that day when the towers came down...

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  45.   misslady1970 says:
    Posted: 27 Sep 06

    I've never been to NYC, but i'll always remember that day of saddness.I had just come in from work,took my kids to school,came home turned on GMA, and i was glued to the tv,i cried like a baby,becuz i know people from the NYC and the surrounding areas...and i wasn't sure if they was hurt...matter of fact i had a very good friend that was suppose to start work there that very day, but i truely believe, GOD was holding him,and woke him up late,so to me he was spared,The people that i still stay in contact with, said," THE VIEW WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME"....God Bless all the families , That lost there loved ones, Remember , we all still feel your pain even to this day, MAY GOD BLESS

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  46.   sian says:
    Posted: 27 Sep 06

    that was very true what you said Laticia, Im from Britan, and your right race doesnt come into cercaumstances beyond our control... there is a greater life if everyone was to just get on wether or not black white asian or any other ethnic background. I believe that everyone is the same no matter what race you are.. It was painfull to see so many people die in such a short amount of time and i think everyone no matter what race felt the hurt that day September 11th will always be a sad day for decades to come. No matter where you are in the world everyone deserves to be happy and not matter what race !!!! Sian Wles Britan

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  47.   unme23 says:
    Posted: 27 Sep 06

    a day that will forever embeded in my heart!!!

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  48.   ashley says:
    Posted: 27 Sep 06

    its a shame that something like this has to happen before ppl step back and take at how they are living life...

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  49.   heartnsoul23 says:
    Posted: 27 Sep 06

    Wow, That is extremely powerful Leticia! I appreciate your article and have very similar beliefs. It is truly a shame that a tragedy has to occur before some people can love human life as a whole instead of being blind to anyone different then themselves.

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  50.   Majesticone says:
    Posted: 26 Sep 06

    September 11 is too close to my heart for me to ever forget it. im a fellow New Yorker and i was born and grew up in NYC. in fact i used to pass by the 2 towers and go shopping and hang out there.. the day this happened, i was at home for 2wks because i had a stupid a** supervisor that had a problem with me.. i was watching the news and could not believe my eyes. i was living in Maryland so it was a double shocker.. i got to see what happened at the pentegon as well. but the 2 towers was worse. i had a family member working there, he just happened to be picking up his car when this all happened and was on his way back to his office in one of the towers when the first plane hit. the one thing im proud about for that day is how NY'ers pulled together and helped one another.. thats how we are.. it did not matter what color or heritage.. it was about helping those that needed the help.

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