DNC Worldwide

A few of my co-workers and I happened into this conversation this morning as we walked back to our desks, sipping our coffee. A morning like any other, except for this conversation.

It started with recollections of where we were and what we were doing on the day everything changed for America and the world. We all remembered the morning of September 11, 2001 vividly. I mean, to the detail of what they were thinking and how they were feeling when we found out what was going on. it’s funny, on the days of our lives when everything changes, these are the days when our memories serve us best.

Still recollecting, we remembered the victims of the attacks. Those working at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the passengers on those planes. Someone remarked that, “these people were just going about their business, with no idea they would be paying this kind of sacrifice.”

Sacrifice… One of the lead officers of our organization is a retired four-star General. He lost his secretary at the Pentagon that day. For me, having grown up in New Jersey, I was fortunate to not have anybody close to me die but I do have many friends who lost someone in the attacks. Even one of our own ninjas lost his dad in the towers that day. Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters…. These weren’t just victims to an attack, they were people’s loved ones. And in many ways, the families of those victims are still paying. I think we all lost something something that day. And in many ways, we’re all still sacrificing.

Moving on in our talk, we spoke of heroes. Those who may have been aware of  the potential circumstances of their actions but decided to act anyway. Like the men at the Pentagon who tried to hold people back from attemping to run into a burning building. …And those who ran into the burning building anyway in an attempt to save more lives before the walls collapsed. Like all the NYC Firefighters, Police, and Port Authority workers who risked, and in many instances gave, their lives doing their duty. They ran against the tide, which must have been a sea of people covered in soot, bewildered, crying, running desperately to get down, out of harm’s way. That’s what makes a hero.

You risk yourself in the face of imminent danger, facing an uncertain future, with the sole purpose of doing the right thing.

Makes you think. Would you do the same in those circumstances?

Anyways, we talked about a lot this morning after what I mentioned above above. I won’t bore you with every detail of our conversation but we spoke about a myriad of issues, each of which could have started an argument but didn’t today.

The main thing we got at was, what have we learned in the last eight years since the attacks? How can we move forward? What will we do to become better human beings? How do we remember 9-11?

Then it dawned on me…. my conclusion. Here we were, four people in my office. We all come from different backgrounds… A white man, black woman, Hispanic, and me, an Asian, talking about all these geopolitical and ideological issues, not arguing and disagreeing, but coming together around one key central theme, doing good and growing as people.

I now think to myself the hope that if everyone can come together like this – ignoring petty differences and learning from the past to make a better future – that is how you honor those who were affected by September 11, 2001. This is how you grow as an individual. As a country. And as a people.

Reflect. Learn. Progess.

This entry was posted on September 11, 2009 at 10:25 am and is filed under Politics. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: 9-11, September 11, world trade center