Thursday, September 11, 2008

I REMEMBER

On this day for the last 7 years it's been hard not to see remembrances of 9/11 everywhere you look. Every year those remembrances seem to dwindle just a little. The media coverage, the tributes, the photos, bit by bit it's becoming more sparse. In my opinion that is also a very great tragedy.

We are being encouraged to forgive, forget & move on with our lives. Forgiveness is a must, it is one of God's greatest lessons & admonishments to us. For our own peace & sanity we must learn to forgive others for the harm they cause.

Forget? How can anyone possibly forget the people, the places, the security that was ripped from us that horrible day? Granted, it would be very nice to walk around in a protecting fog, never having to confront the evils that we do to each other & even to ourselves everyday. Never having to watch it on the television or hear it on the radio. On the other hand, what about all the good? Family, friends, hopes & dreams, all the things that make us human.

Consider this as well, what if we DO forget? What if we go back to being that to trusting nation that lets everyone in? People who wish to harm us, people who are jealous of or disgusted by our way of life? What do you think will happen? Do you think we will all live peacefully together? I don't. I think the same type of thing or something even worse would happen all over again. The events of that day & the days & years that led up to it can never be forgotten, we must remain vigilant. It can not happen again.

What about moving on? Yes, to a degree we must all move on. After all, our lives go on no matter what happens. Even when you lose someone you love & it feels like your heart has been ripped out, your life will go on. But do we forget those people? No, we remember & honor them as if they were still here. If we start to move on too much then this date will become like any other. This is NOT an ordinary day & it should NOT be treated as one. The people who were lost or injured that day & in the days following should ALWAYS be remembered & honored for the martyrs & heroes that they are.

I did not personally know anyone who was killed or injured that day. However, as a Christian, an American, as a human, it affected me VERY deeply. I still cry if I see it on TV, I have several books with pictures & sometimes I get them out & cry & pray for those poor souls. I was privileged to be allowed to do a tribute on this blog two years ago. My tribute was for a lovely woman named Julie Geis. As I researched & wrote about her life I came to know a successful, generous, loving woman who is & always will be tremendously missed. I came to mourn the life of a woman I did not know, a life that was cut short before a lot of her hopes & dreams could be realized. Please, if you have time, follow THIS LINK to her tribute. THIS LINK will take you to a page with links to all the tributes that were done in '06. I believe they are all worth reading again.

As Americans with lives that are too busy, have too many distractions, too many entertainment choices we all too often forget about the important things in life. We get concerned with things that don't matter, celebrities & what they are doing, which of them is good, which of them are bad. Clothes, cars, jewels, money, all those things mean nothing in the end. Your families, your true friends, the way we all pulled together after 9/11, those are the things that matter. Love one another, CHERISH one another. You never know when someone you love is going to be taken from you.

Remember the things that happened that day, remember the people who were lost, remember their families, don't let anyone tell you when you should move on. Pray for them, pray for all of us. Pray that we never ever forget.

I remember.......

Julie Geis


For Julie's sister Carol & her friend Kathy who were so kind & supportive of me during & after the writing of her tribute. You're still in my heart, thoughts & prayers, as well as the rest of your family & the families of everyone who was lost that day.
Heather Smith

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

It has been 7 long years. We will never forgot that day. I still wear Julie's memory bracelet with her name on it. It may of weathered over the years, but our memories of Julie and those that lost their lives will never leave us.

Gemini and Ichiro said...

We will never forget.

ANGEL ABBYGRACE said...

As with any anniversary, good or bad, comes a time of introspection. As each anniversary passes the more distant it becomes for those of us who were not immediately touched by the loss of a family member or personal friend, and even then it is only those who were directly touched that bear the daily losses. Each morning to see the faces of the child who Mother or Father will not come home, the emptiness of never being able to hug your husband or wife again...the sad realization of the enoromity of it all. Life goes on and the dimmer the horror. Sad but true that it's easier to forget than to remember. But lest we do, we fail to understand that the ones who inflicted this terrible deed on us only wish to do more to destroy us. We should never let the memory of those souls who became heroes that day to let us lose our perspective on what they taught us.

Miss you Heather.
Debra

Just Ducky said...

We won't forget, our hearts still hurt from this.

Anonymous said...

Very good post, Oreo's Mom.

I am going to all the blogs on our list to let you know that we are deleting "Les Trois Chats." Momma is too busy to let us blog anymore - she has had a hard time blogging for herself even. We are actually now Les Quatre Chats anyway as we added LOLA in June, who is a POOP and has put me to shame as the alpha cat around here... even though, yes, she's a GIRL. (I know, SO emasculating! I need a treat or twenty to comfort me...)

We so enjoyed our time with all of you. Au revoir, mes amis,

Moose

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Karen Jo said...

This is a very touching tribute, Heather. I am sorry that I am so late in finding it. I will never forget that terrible day and the huge losses that it meant to so many. I have really missed you and it's good to see a post from you again.

Lightning and Co. said...

Hey Oreo!
I am pretty sure I WAS named for a cookie as my name is Cookie! I do look like an Oreo, though. That was also my daddy's name.

Karen Jo said...

Merry Christmas, Oreo and Heather. I sure do miss you.

Kimo and Sabi said...

Purr fer da new year. We look at yer magnet on our frige every day. Miss you.

Mr. Hendrix said...

we know you have lots going on, but can you update just a little? we miss you. mommy uses your notebook and we see your magnet on our fridge and think of you.

purrrrs

Zippy, Sadie, Speedy and M'Gee said...

Oreo, dude, we is a little bit worried about yoo. Our mom and us all is worried. Maybe yoo could just post a "I'm fine" on yoor bloggie? It's April 7, 2009 and dat is more den 6 months!