Today is September 11, 2014;
the 13th anniversary of 9/11.
It is a day I will never forget.
It is a day when fear and uncertainty took over the nation and the
world. It is a day when all of our lives
changed forever. That fateful day
overwhelmingly proved that evil and hatred exists in the world. How could anyone purposefully unleash death
and destruction of such magnitude on innocent people? Why? What is so incredible about that day is that God placed two French filmmakers (Jules Naudet and Gedeon Naudet) there to record history on film. These two men were in NY to film a documentary on the firemen of Engine 7, Ladder 1 in lower Manhattan, NY. What these two brothers didn't know is that God was using them as a vehicle to capture the images and details of this indescribable act of terrorism in real time. What were you doing on September 11, 2001 when you first found out that
terrorists had attacked America? I remember
it like it was yesterday. I was working in
the movie industry at Showtime Networks at the time. I was in bed that morning, awoke suddenly and
for no explainable reason immediately turned on the TV. The image that appeared was a
giant airliner, American Airlines flight 11, crashing into the north tower of
the World Trade Center in NY. The image
was so graphic; especially for someone who’d just awaken from a peaceful
sleep. I sat up in my bed as my heart
sank. I immediately contacted my
parents. My first words were “something terrible
has just happened.” There was a knot in
my throat and tears in my eyes. I could
barely speak. I didn’t know the depth of
what’d happened quite yet so I showered and drove to work. The 405 freeway was empty at peak traffic
hours and anyone who knows L.A. knows that is bizarre. I got to work in Westwood, CA and no one was
there. It was haunting. I drove back home so scared.
My father’s birthday is
September 7th and my parents had been in Vegas. They had called me on September 10th
to tell me that they were staying for a few more days. My parents and I always keep in touch as a
precaution for safety reasons. Again,
for some unexplainable reason I felt that they should fly home and persuaded
them to do so. They flew home on the
evening of September 10th just before the tragedy on September 11th. Had I not persuaded them to fly home, they
would have been stranded in Vegas at a terrifying time. Recall that no planes were allowed to fly in
the U.S. for a week after September 11, 2001.
I was living a perfect life
in Los Angeles. I was working in the movie
industry, hobnobbing with movie stars, going to movie premieres, driving around
in a nice BMW, going to fine restaurants and dating two good looking guys. Yes, two!
9/11 brought my world to a screeching halt and was a pivotal moment in
my life. I've never felt such deep emotions as I did on that day. The events of 9/11 confirmed to me that life is
fleeting and at any moment our lives can change or be taken away. Terrorism, evil and hatred jeopardize everyone’s safety and security; not just that of Americans. Go out in the world and do good deeds. Give love and make each day count. God bless.
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