September 11th~ 12 years later

My soul will forever hold a well of tears for the 11th day of every September that I will live.  It remains a sacred day for me... a day that silently demands me to remember.  Remember the crispness of the air on that glorious fall day, remember the brilliant blue of the sky with cotton candy like clouds and that gasping moment when I realized what was happening in real time right before my eyes.  Like many, that day changed me.  I met terror that day and an unmeasured sorrow burrowed deep inside of me... but so did hope as I watched strangers wage war against hate with kindness as their only weapons. It was a day that everyone helped everyone.  Black smoke was a blanket that blinded us from all of our differences. We were all the same that day... grasping for one another- grasping for courage and hope.  Death, sorrow and sadness loomed over our city on that day and the many days that followed... but in the ashes, hope rose up in every act of kindness extended between strangers.  Kindness... it redeemed what hate tried to destroy.  Kindness... brought life where death clamored to have the stage.  Kindness... it was no small thing on that day.  It is no small thing today.