Among the many lessons of 9/11 is that we shouldn’t wait for a meeting with death to remind us how we should live. In the selflessness of the first responders of 9/11, there are lessons for all of us in how we should treat one another. Firemen ran up the stairs of Word Trade Center 1 and 2 to help people they had never met knowing full well they might lose their lives in so doing. Policemen and women worked triple shifts on their own initiative to help search for surivvors. Strangers picked one another up off the ground and when necessary, carried one another.
The hole in the Manhatten skyline has since been filled by the Freedom tower, but the hole in our hearts left by those we lost that day will never be filled. In their abrupt departure from our lives, we learned just how fleeting life can be.
If you were trapped in one of those towers on that terrible day 15 years ago, what are the things you might have wished you’d said to your loved ones and friends, knowing there was a good chance you would never leave that building alive? What would you have wished you’d done differently in your life?
And now ask yourself: What are you waiting for?
One Response
My goosebumps have goosebumps after reading this beautiful and poignant piece. One thing I know for sure is that I’m incredibly proud to be your mom – I only hope I have made that as clear to you as it is to me – pre-9/11, post 9/11 and always