Beyond Fiction

It’s been 8 years today. Eight years since our world was changed forever!

I can still recall the events of that day. I had been up all night playing around on the Internet. I had just gotten in to bed when my wife came in and woke me up. She was saying something about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. We didn’t have a television at the time so I turned on the radio and listened. We thought it was just a small plane that had hit it but as we listened we began to hear it was something much bigger.

I remember the shock. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! A huge plane has crashed into the WTC. I began to try to imagine how horrible it must have been. Then came the news of the second plane and all of a sudden my shock was now turned to anger. I knew this was no accident! Who would dare to do something as horrible as this? Back then I was not much of a current events person. I stayed away from the news because I didn’t care about all the negative stuff you heard. I had no idea who Osama Bin Laden was or of the attitudes of some Muslims to America. Now, I am beginning to hear all these things. I was so angry and wanted to just do something! What could I do? I remember that I hopped into the car and just began to drive. I was listening on the radio and heard about the Pentagon and then about Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. I had to pull over because by this time the reality of so many lives being lost had hit me and I was crying so hard. I remember praying like I had never prayed before. Not for me but for those who were being affected by this. I also remember praying that justice would be delivered swiftly.

That evening I had to go to work. It was an Internet service provider and we were getting so many calls from folks in New York wanting to know why they didnt’ have access. I was confused at first but then I thought to myself that they must be trying to find out as much as possible about their loved ones. My confusion turned to sadness. I began to pull up some images from the Internet. The horror of it all was there before me and I realized that everything I had tried to imagine in my mind was so far from the truth. It was so much more horrible than I could have ever imagined!

The days following were just a blur. I remember holding my children so tightly and cherishing everything I had. I wanted to do something but what could I do? I did the only thing I could think of, I continued to pray.

To this day, I can still remember the nonchalant comment I made to my wife when she woke me up. “Aw, it’s probably just some accident”. How terribly wrong I was. I remember the shock and then I remember how that turned into such anger. I believe that the thing I remember most is that I actually learned how to sincerely pray for folks who I didn’t even know. If I would have been around New York, I believe I would have had no problem giving of my time.

I was proud to be an American! I knew we would overcome and be stronger.

I knew life would never be the same!

God bless those who lost loved ones and were affected so strongly by this tragic event. May your peace wash over them on this day and comfort them.

Ken