9/11

I've been sick today - hanging out with a migraine from hell. At least it was a Sunday and not a really busy day. Still a waste of a perfectly good day.

The TV watchers in my family (of which I'm not really one) are really into the National Geographic channel lately (NatGeo). For some reason, everything on today was related to 9/11. The best program of them all by far was one called "How It Was" and it was about the Voices of 9/11. I've watched a lot of documentaries on 9/11 because The Marshmallow is a documentary type of guy but this one was far and away, the best one I've seen. I've cried a lot of tears over the years for everything that happened that day and everyone that was affected, especially those that lost their lives and their families but it's been a few years since I've been moved to tears again.

Until today, during this program I'm telling you about. A lot of it was interviews with the 911 operators and they described the telephone conversations they had with the folks inside the towers and then how after they fell, the conversations began with the families looking for their loved ones. And the operators were these middle people who were going to be the first line communication to all of those looking for survivors. They said they probably weren't even going to watch the program when it came out.

And then after all of the telephone messages from loved ones, and from those who died to loved ones - this went on for a long time...just listening to the messages, then you saw the towers fall. And it was so emotional because you associated all of those voices with people who were dying, right this very minute as the building crashes down. The emergency workers are rushing up the stairs and it takes them forever to get all the way up to those high stories just in time for the tower to fall down. It was so devastating. I couldn't help but re-live it all over again.

I hate that day. I hate that so many innocent people had to die. I hate that so many children don't have parents now. I especially hate that so many people chose between death by fire or by jumping to their death. I wish so badly that it were all different. I can't believe that there are people in the world that would resort to such cruelty. I just don't get it. And if it takes a certain wisdom to understand this religious fervor, then I don't want it.