Never forget

I remember where I was at the time of hearing about the first plane... I was driving into work listening to a radio broadcast about an escaped monkey that the local authorities were trying to capture and they were discussing different sightings of this escaped monkey. The radio djs were laughing, playing different "monkey" themed songs (Monkey, Monkey on My Back, etc.). I actually called in to request Monkey Business by Skid Row. Just after I hung up the phone, they came on-air and mentioned a small twin-engine plane had hit the Trade Center in NY. At the time, I didn't know anything about the WTC. I didn't realize that people worked in the towers. I thought, maybe it was conference rooms or something, but I didn't understand the loss of life that could happen even with a small plane. Anyway, off I go to work. I was running late and had a 9:00 meeting. I pulled into the parking lot at work at 9:05 as they announced the 2nd plane hitting the towers. When I walked into my meeting, I told everyone else and we canceled a meeting and pulled a TV into the conference room to watch the rest of the madness unfold.

This morning was eerie. The similarities scared me a little. It was a beautiful Tuesday morning in early September, just like 11 years ago, not a cloud in the sky. And then, on my way into work, the djs on the local radio station (I now live 800+ miles away from where I did on 9/11/01.) were discussing an escaped monkey that was just caught in the next town over, and joking about it. If they had started playing songs relating to monkeys, I probably would have turned around and driven back home.

It's been 11 years. And, it feels appropriate to remember solemnly the horror of that day, but not to obsess over them. In years past, I felt that I owed it to all the victims to watch all the news coverage and all the documentaries that were shown about that day. This year, I took a few minutes this morning while I was getting ready for work and I remembered and said a prayer for the lives lost. And then, I finished getting ready and went to work. It feels like it's time to really focus on moving forward instead of looking back. But, we will never forget.