As We Approach 9-11 This Week...

(John KatzEditorThe American Dossier) Many may gather around the water cooler this Wednesday and perhaps pause and reflect about where they were on September 11th 2001. For me It was my first day of work at a new job as a thirty-something-year-old man. It is hard to believe that it has been eighteen years since the 2001 tragic and still incomprehensible terrorist attack and destruction of the World Trade Center. I grew up in NYC and often visited the towers as a child as they were being built. My mother was an on-site nurse during their construction. On occasion my grandparents would take me to visit and I was mesmerized by the enormity of these man-made structures. In retrospect even as they were being built you couldnt help but ponder about the God-given talents of the people that collaborated to build these structures from those who engineered the structure designed the blueprints and those who poured the concrete. After the towers were complete my fathers military reserve unit held their weekend drills in Tower 2. This was in the mid-1970s at a time period in which NYC observed the blue laws(1) which left these buildings as ghost-towns on these weekends. So I often had free reign to roam the empty lobby when it was closed to the general public. So my memories of these buildings are from the innocent sentimental views of a child as they were simply an enormous play land. In the present (after that tragic day in 2001) I cant help but ponder about the youngest family members of the victims. They are turning 18 years old and have survived with a much tragic set of memories. For them it is not about the towers but the loss of life of their loved ones who perhaps they never even met. Their innocence and sentimental views were sadly corrupted by the actions of men who decided to use their God-given talents for the purpose of inexcusable evil. So as there will be many commemorative activities this Wednesday but let us not forget the individual loss and the loved ones left behind. Let us pray for their continued healing and that their hearts be guided to seek solace in a Higher Power. As we pray for them to harden not their hearts. (1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_law