Because I Made a Promise
Tuesday, September 11, 2007 at 10:27PM I don’t know if it’s just because I spent the day working here at home, or if there is just much less being said, but I didn’t hear much about the fact that it’s September 11 today. Maybe it feels like everything that could be said has been said, and we have only to roll our eyes impatiently at the cliches.
Well, I have nothing new to say. But I’ll recap my memory of the day anyway.
Six years ago today, I had just arrived at work, and was getting my computer started when a co-worker of mine said in kind of a bemused voice, (I’ll never forget this as long as I live) “Hey, a little plane just hit the World Trade Center. Here it is on CNN.com.”
We went over to her desk and looked over her shoulder at a still photo of a smoking hole in one of the towers. We were thinking to ourselves, maybe that wasn’t a little plane. Those are BIG towers…
That was the last moment of peace and innocence I remember before the events began to unfold. The second plane hit while we watched on CNN.com. After that, we knew it was serious.
We all went out to the TV hung on the wall in the lounge, about 30 or 35 of us standing or sitting, looking up at the TV as the newscasts rolled. So many people were crying. So many others just sat there, stunned. And then the first heart-rending collapse. The immense cloud of smoke and dust and the fear that rolled outward with it. The awful sound of the commentators’ voices as their hearts failed them. I remember someone screaming.
It crossed my mind that this might be the beginning of the end of the world. That this might be the War to end all Wars, started with a vicious attack on innocent people. Who knows if that still might be the case?
I remember that the entire company shut down that day and they sent us all home. And it was later that day that I learned that my friend Brady was missing from the Pentagon. It was two days later that I learned he’d been killed.
Brady Howell was a born leader (he was the student body president at our high school our senior year). He was smart and hilarious and ambitious and educated, and he was living his dream as a Presidential Management Intern, working as a civilian for the department of Naval Intelligence at the Pentagon. He was at work on that day, 6 years ago today, when he was killed by the plane flown in to the building.
I made a promise that I would never forget him. That I would never forget that he was killed by terrorists who seek to destroy the peace of this country and cause pain and sorrow, and grief and fear, anger and mistrust among us. That I would never forget to appreciate LIFE, to live it and love it, and be grateful for what I have. That even though our lives are sometimes full of fear and sorrow, it’s a good life, and how glad I am to have it. And how much I want not to waste it. :)
I’m taking this chance to remember that promise now. For me, this will never be just another day on the calendar.
Brady, my friend, you will never be forgotten.
Take just a minute and go over to the 2996 blog. This is a complete list of all the victims. All of the people who died. It stuns and saddens me how long it takes to scroll to the bottom of that list, without even reading names.
Here are some other comments from bloggers around the world. Feel free to leave your link in the comments with your thoughts.
Maybe it’s just me hearing less about this. Maybe the years will fade this event from memory. Maybe there will come a day when “September 11” doesn’t instantly bring to mind that terrible day. But I won’t forget my promise. Brady, my friend, you will never be forgotten.
Your turn: What will you never forget about this day and its aftermath?
Jessica
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Reader Comments (25)
One year later I went to New York with my sister and 24 other women. We flew into JFK at 6:00 a.m. on the morning of September 12 2002. It was one of the most amazing times in my life but seeing Ground Zero and buildings still missing windows a year later was humbling. They also had billboards with different images from that day that would stop you in your tracks as you came around the corner singing Dancing Queen on the way home from Mama Mia. We certainly had reservations about being there a year later but we went to see what had happened for ourselves and to support the city.
Thanks for keeping a promise. I am sure there are so many promises that 2996 people would love to have the chance to keep but will never be able to.
I'm surprised you didn't experience much awareness or discussion of this being the sixth anniversary. Radio and television had all day and evening coverage of today's memorial services around the country, as well as retrospectives of the day and the events of the intervening years.
Sadness was the dominant feeling in our household today.
Your friend Brady and all the others who perished on that day were in our thoughts. We also thought about all those who are serving in the military and all those who have sacrificed their lives for us. Thank you for adding a face and a name to those being recalled in our hearts.
- Lee
Thank God all my relatives got out of the city safely. One of my cousins is a flight attendent on the boston fight to NY luckily she wasn't on it that day. My cousins husband is EMS and vehicle broke down on the way to the call, than k God for that. Many of my friends and family work across the street from the Twin towers and witness the whole thing.
My boys were very tramatized by it all and did not feel safe again for a full year going to school. They didn't understand the difference between their school building and the towers.
They felt a building is a building and it could happen at their school too. I personally could not turn off the TV for a full month for fear that something would happen again.
Thank you for posting this in your wonderful blog. I learn a lot from your lessons.
My husband served his mission with Brady Howell in the Canary Islands. He was a wonderful missionary. His wife has been a great missionary telling Brady's story in many programs, even one that I saw in a film in one of the visitor center's - I think it was Nauvoo. It's amazing how many people can be touched by just one life. It makes me want to be a better person.
On a side note, it has been fun following you on your journey to scrapbook stardom! I love your style and creations. You are very talented!
As I live a few miles south of Luke Air Force Base here in Arizona, I can hear the jets taking off all day long. I love that sound. My husband says it is the sound of freedom. How grateful we should all be for our freedom on this day and every day!
On a lighter note, September 11 is my oldest brother's birthday, and I didn't forget him either. :)
I think my husband and I might have been the last ones on earth to find out about 9/11. We live in Hawaii,woke up at 10 am (4 pm in New York); we don't have TV, we didn't turn on the radio as we usually do and we had forgotten our cell phones in the car, so we found out finally when his parents called at about noon. We immediately drove to the gym to watch TV. To this day, I've only watched the footage of the airplane crashing in the towers once. I cannot bear to ever see it again. It's etched in my brain anyway.
I wasn't born American.I come from a French island called Reunion. I was actually raised in a muslim family. I am disgusted by what those terrorists do in the name of their religion. I am disgusted by those people who do not see them for what they are. America is a wonderful country. Americans are a wonderful people. I am proud to now be a citizen and I shall never forget either.
God Bless the USA.
No, I'll never forget. Not those who tragically lost their lives, nor those that have fought or continue to fight to protect us.
That horrible tragedy - the pain , the suffering, the precious lives lost that day and for what? A political statement? A religious statement?
It is so difficult to believe that this aggriegous act by a handful of fanatics could (and will continue to) cause pain and alter our everyday lives for years to come...
LET US REMEMBER; this year and all of the years that follow.
I think over time we want to move on (and should), and we want to remove ourselves from the pain of that day. But it IS important that we never forget. Ever.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was living in Seattle and was sleeping peacefully with my new husband of just 5 months when I awoke with a start and felt an irresistible urge to pray. This was around 5:30 a.m. Pacific time, what would later turn out to be right around the time the first building was hit. I didn't understand what I was supposed to pray for but I prayed anyway, and went back to sleep. When the phone rang just an hour or so later, it was my mother-in-law who told us the horrifying news. We stayed home from work that day and, like you, wondered if it was the end of the world. In many ways it *was* the end of a certain innocence about the world that we'd always had.
I hope I never forget the people who died that day. God bless you, Brady, and the thousands of others who died that day and in the days that have followed to ensure freedom and peace for all the rest of us.
Thanks for sharing. I,too, will never forget. Sept. 11th 2001 was the due date of my 3rd child, who was born Sept. 15th. Such joy mixed with the grief and disbelief of that day.
My husband was in the Reserves and ended up being called up two weeks before our son was born.
I spent this September 11th thinking remembering the sad and awful losses of that day. I also thought about the sacrafice of those serving. So many babies not held by their parent who is away fighting. First steps missed, moments that you can never bring back.
Most people don't agree with this war - but I hope they remember that the soldier doesn't get to choose the war.