Lest we forget.

Source: everlytrue.tumblr.com via
Kristel Ann on Pinterest

I guess we will never forget what we were doing during that fateful day exactly ten years ago.

I was fifteen years old. I remember sitting in front of the TV, shocked and transfixed. I remember being horrified at the images being shown but I couldn't, wouldn't look away. I remember how confused I felt and not being able to understand about how other people were able to find the heart to do those terrible, evil acts. I remember being appalled and sickened by the lack of conscience of the perpetrators of these attacks. I admit, until now, I still do.

Most of all, I remembered my young heart grieving for the loss of lives, dreams, and futures.

New York and Washington are located miles and oceans away from my country but the grief reverberated throughout every nation and shook the earth, right through its very core.

Just recently I watched some videos in Youtube about the 9/11 World Trade Center and Pentagon terrorist attacks, and I wasn't able to stop the tears from falling. I don't personally know anyone from the more than 2,000 people who perished, but I'm sure anyone who saw those videos felt the same helplessness and sadness I felt. I watched the different clips taken from Ground Zero before and after the two towers fell, and I couldn't imagine how I would have acted if I were there. I sat in admiration as I watched brave reporters trying to cover what is happening, and even though it seemed like they were already about to break down in despair at what they were witnessing, they still carried on with their duty of presenting the latest updates and developments as sensitively as was possible. I remember my heart breaking even more at the video showing men and women falling from the burning buildings to their deaths, and whether they chose to jump or not we wouldn't really know. It's sad that some victims are being maligned for choosing to jump (which for some equates to suicide) instead of suffocate and burn. Who knows, maybe the impact of the crash pushed them out of the windows to their deaths, right? All I know is that we cannot fault them for trying to control their destiny in the last remaining way they can. It doesn't matter how they died, the point is that they did.

I was supposed to blog about a fashion show and winning a new phone today, but in light of what we are commemorating today I believe they can wait. What are clothes, parties, and gadgets but embellishments to this life, anyway.

My dear friends, if it's not asking too much, I would like to ask everyone who reads this post to pause for a few moments, remember, and pray. For me personally, I pray for the souls of the victims and the heroes who lost their lives; may their souls rest in peace in a place where there's no more suffering. I pray for their loved ones; may they find comfort in knowing that "those who love us never really leave us". And lastly I pray for ourselves, that we may never again experience such horrifying disregard to human lives and dreams.

Tweeted by Pam Pastor:

"You could knock me down, you could beat me up, but I'm going to get up and fight again.

You may tear down this building that I live in, but I'll make a bigger one.

I'll make a better one."

- Stanley Praimnath, 9/11 survivor