Hello Readers,
We always associate certain pivotal life events with the places where we were; the events we remember often have very similar themes. Where was your first kiss? Where were you when you found out you were pregnant? Where were you when your grandmother died? Where were you when your son was born? There are points in our life so significant that we can remember the color of the walls, what she was wearing, how fresh the grass was cut and if we enjoyed the food. We can smell, sense, hear, touch, feel the environment we were in. We may even reach out when thinking about it in an almost trance. These events in life tie us together because they are part of being human and human nature.
Today is 9/11/2013 and we all know what happened 12 years ago. But where were you? I know that’s really the question that everyone asks when we talk about this event. It’s the only way many of can relate to it. We weren’t there to feel the fear, the uncertainty, the death, the ash, and see the bravery. So, we connect to it any way we can. I personally was in Mr. Hanson’s math class. It was 8th grade and I had never heard of the Trade Centers. I remember watching with curiosity trying to understand why the event was so important to me that class had been postponed so we could watch. I have to thank the naiveness of my mid-western, rural upbringing to even think “it must be an accident” when the first plane hit. When the second plane smashed into the towers I did not even understand the significance of ‘terroristic act’. I understand now how lucky I was/am, because at my age of 14, there are so many people who do know, and it fills their lives with constant fear.
Today’s ceremonies and memorial services remembered those who gave their lives. They also acknowledged our ground forces in the middle east and the ongoing conflict Syria which has left 10’s of thousands dead with no end in sight. However, I think remembering 9/11 should also cause you to think further than the US border. I think that remembering 9/11 should also bring you closer to those current events which still haunt, torment and demean people everywhere. Where were they the day their families and lives were changed by terrorist acts? As you go through your daily lives please take time to remember where you were and what that means to you.
As part of my thoughts on 9/11 today Amazing Grace came into my head; it actually is what drove me to even write this blog in the first place. I find it to be one of the most moving songs and entirely applicable to the world around us. I sat and thought about world events as I played over and over on my guitar. I recorded the piece below and the lyrics are as follow (not that you don’t know them):
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
T’was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
‘Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.
When we’ve been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’ve first begun.
Amazing Grace – Ian Johnson Cover
So, I don’t want this to be too melancholy, but I hope meditate on where you were and use it to connect you to the world around you. I would love to hear where you were in the comments below!
Griz
Thanks for causing me to be introspective.
I was at home – we were intalling new windows and I was waiting for the guys to show them which windows were going to be replaced. I was only going to be off for an hour or so, but I ended up taking the whole day off. Couldn’t take my eyes off the tv. I can still picture some of the scenes in my mind. I will never forget it.
P.S. You are one talented dude!
Beautiful Ian. I was in Mrs. Kovash’s room, a friend brought me in there saying, “You have to see this!” When I saw the tv I thought it was a movie, I couldn’t comprehend that it was really happening. Like you Ian, I didn’t know what the towers were and couldn’t understand how anyone could purposely do this. God is great though and He helps us through all moments of our lives we just have to open up to him.
I was waiting for a “Boot” for the leg I had broken the day before. Sitting in the Dr.’s waiting room when the first announcement was made and video shown. Some memory! Good to think of it like you have Ian. Thanks!
Ian, thanks for your words and song. I was working that day and ended up at Sears so my client could shop for a new tv. I saw the replay of the planes hitting the two towers and thought it was a movie. I learned shortly that it was a deliberate plane crash. Later that evening I was teaching an evening class at UNEfor people needing it to reinstate their license after an OUI. We got to a part where I said the alcohol or drug hijacks the chemical site in the brain and so the natural chemical is replaced. Then we realized that some of the people in the class still did not know if thier loved ones were alive or not. It was now 8PM so we cancelled the rest of the class so they could go home and hopefully find out where their loved ones were.
I was standing at my locker in 7th grade inbetween Phy. Ed and Mr. Glynn’s english class. My good friend Brad told me the first tower had been hit and that they had watched the news all class. Much like Ian, I had no clue what the World Trade Centers were nor the importance of the events. Most of the remainder of the day was spent watching the news and the endless loop of video of the first and then second planes crashing into the two towers. No doubt a day that has forever changed the course of American history…a memory like the Kennedy assasination or the Challenger that will be etched in everyones memory forever.
Thank you for sharing everyone!!!
I was at the PACC and had just gotten done teaching a class. When I came out into the front desk area, you could hear a pin drop as people stared at the TV screen. I asked JET what had happened. He replied to the effect of , Terrorists are killing thousands of people in New York.’ I felt physically ill.
Some people tend to think that God fails them in times of tragedy when really He is always with us to support us and guide us through the pain and the joy. Thanks for the song, Ian. So appropriate:)
Ian,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and music with us. Hope to see you back in Maine some day.