Sept 11: The 11 year anniversary

Please re-read last year's post on the 10 year anniversary regarding 'The Heroes'.  In my opinion, while I'm admittedly prejudiced, it is some of my better writing.

Today's anniversary is coming on the heels of announcements that 50 types of cancer are being added to the lists of medically covered illnesses suffered by the rescuers and others.  Stating the obvious, it's about f---king time.  Jon Stewart did a fabulous piece bringing attention to this last year, and in December brought attention to the politics in the Senate holding up the bill. His point is that anyone who served on 'The Pile' should be covered, regardless of any possible non-9/11 etiology of their cancer.  The most memorable part: a visual of an FDNY guy with Stewart saying if that person was there...'I don't care if he sucked down 200 packets of Sweet N Low a day poured over his cereal Tumor-Os while covered in a cell phone suit smoking Chernobyl Lites and downing his favorite drink from Agent Orange Julius:  if he was down there, he gets a pass to free health care!'   (Go to The Daily Show, July 28, 2011 airing)  Amen, brother, Amen!

While I haven't heard the question, someone has or will be sure to ask:  if those guys knew what was going to happen, would they still have gone in and stayed there for months?  The answer is, of course, yes.  Maybe they would have taken more precautions, worn masks.  But let's face it: you couldn't have dragged those guys outta there, considering the emotional toll it represented, both to the departments as well as their country. 

Of late my thoughts have turned to the children of those from all the emergency services who died that day.  Those that were babies are now in middle school, those that were in middle school are now young adults.  How do they cope with the ghosts of their (mostly) fathers?  Losing a parent at a young age can lead to problems for any child, but to have them die as heroes on a date that is constantly referenced has to be an additional burden.  Do they feel obligated to follow in their footsteps?  Are they burdened by feeling a need to live up to their hero status?   Are they now resenting being told constantly how much the country came to admire them and their sacrifice?  Are they tired of people's reactions on learning how their father died?  As a child, how do you cope with that?  (Obviously, a rhetorical question, but this is what goes through my mind.)

The memories are receding, time marches on, people's lives continue and the world keeps turning.  But please, on this day especially, send out your prayers, your gratitude and your love to those who were lost, and those left to cope with the aftermath.

Blessed Be,  Laurie

 

 

In Memoriam

To all those lost at WTC & The Pentagon

To the brave passengers and crew of Flight 93

who were the first Americans to fight back against the terrorists

To those who knowingly made the ultimate sacrifice

FDNY, NYPD & PAPD

and to those whose efforts then are leading to their deaths now

WE WILL NEVER FORGET