It’s so hard to believe that 10 years has passed since our nation came under attack and 2,983 innocent men, women and children lost their lives. We pause today to remember all of our heros and pledge to each other and our great country that WE WILL NEVER FORGET!
“Ten years have passed since a perfect blue sky morning turned into the blackest of nights,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said during the ceremony.
“Since then, we’ve lived in sunshine and in shadow, and although we can never unsee what happened here, we can also see that children who lost their parents have grown into young adults, grandchildren have been born and good works and public service have taken root to honor those we loved and lost.”
For many of us, the recent coverage brings our own personal pain and struggles to the surface. Questions from our kids, discussions in their classrooms and television coverage has been hard no doubt. For us, there is another level of grief that comes with this anniversary. It’s natural to feel that way because we can identify with these children and parents who have to go on without their loved ones. We look at them with such compassion and empathy for the road they have had to travel for the past decade.
An article in The Star Ledger featured the children who lost their parent that day. “Madison Robertson shares many things with her best friend, Payton Wall. The girls are both 14, wear their hair long and straight, have new puppies they love and are Justin Bieber fans. The two friends share another connection. Both lost their fathers in the 9/11 terror attacks.”We have a lot in common, with our dads,” Madison said, during an interview at her Rumson home. “We can relate to each other.” Such loss is not unfamiliar in Rumson. The girls can count at least four other families they know, either classmates or other friends from the area, who also lost a dad on Sept. 11. “It’s difficult to talk to someone who doesn’t understand how you feel,” Payton said. “With Madison, I can tell her how I’m feeling and know she’s feeling the exact same way. Sometimes, when you’re having a bad day, you just want to talk about it.”
I know that for my children, the “connection” they have with other kids who have lost their parent is something I need them to have. I also know now, from watching (with tears streaming down my face) all of the recent coverage of these brave kids, that their grief will be a life-long process and that I OWE it to them to do all I can to preserve that connection.
And as I sit here today watching the tributes to our fallen heros, I am filled with such mixed emotions. Recounting that day and seeing all the stories fills me with such sadness and anger, yet I can’t help but feel such a sense of pride in the human spirit and our country. I feel honored to be among such brave and heroic people that I can only hope that I would be if put in that situation. The strength and resolve we have shown as a nation over the past 10 years makes me so proud to be an American.

Anyway – Martina McBride
You can spend your whole life building something from nothing
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway
You can chase a dream that seems so out of reach and you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway

God is great, but sometimes life ain’t good
And when I pray it doesn’t always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway, I do it anyway

This world’s gone crazy and it’s hard to believe that tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway
You can love someone with all your heart, for all the right reasons, and in a moment they can choose to walk away
Love ’em anyway

You can pour your soul out singing… a song you believe in that tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway, sing it anyway

I sing, I dream, I love, anyway.