|
|
A special dedication and tribute to all who lost their
lives.
The Day the World Shed Tears
It is a week of incomprehension. To say that there are no words to
describe the tragedy our nation is facing is an understatement: It is beyond words, beyond thoughts, even beyond the darkest
of nightmares. As I watched the definition of reality on Tuesday, September 11, shift to a new horrifying extreme, I discovered
what it is to look on the face of death and to see evil.
The planes that smashed against and into the steel towers
we knew as the World Trade Center have stripped us of so many things.
To my fellow students of Western Illinois University
and those around the country, I know your pain. I may not know how you feel, whether it is anger, ache, disbelief or numbness,
but I know how deeply it stings inside to see things we have taken for granted shattered before our eyes.
To those
who are forced to push their mourning aside and continue on each day, in Congress, the armed forces, and at the workplace:
Thank you for letting 50 white stars and 13 stripes rise above all else and show that we are the United States of America.
You show that, as a nation, we embrace in love, revel in victory, and we console, comfort, and bear together the scars of
disaster and tragedy. And you show that together, nothing will make us give up.
To those that have lost loved ones
and family: I am sorry. I am so sorry for whom you have lost. My heart holds grief for you. My face shows the tears of pain
and agony that mirror your own. My thoughts and prayers will be ever with you.
Just as the choirs resonate our sentiments
in song, our pastors and priests humbly ask God for peace and solace and all people who comprise this nation kneel before
you in humble remembrance of those taken away, so I, too, wish you tranquility.
And, as I watched the smoke billow
as two symbols of America fell to nothing and another lay in partial ruin, I could not even cry. It is a scope of destruction
beyond my ability to grasp.
Only now, over a week later, can my heart accept what my eyes have seen. I had no idea
how much it would affect me. And as our country, indeed, the World prepares for war, I wonder how much more pain the United
States will feel.
Yet, even past the awful devastation, even past the pain and tears, even past all the deaths, a silver
lining laces through all the murky gray: never before have I felt such a bond to my fellow Americans. Never before have I
witnessed such kindness from all our people.
If tomorrow I meet a stranger in the street, I will endeavor to know
him, not just another man or woman, but as a person and a friend. For it is what we must do to accept our fellow man. We must
unite.
Years from now, when we look back on this, I hope we will say that this was not only the day the world shed
tears, but the day that humankind learned to know one another. The day we learned to love.
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There
will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." -Revelation 21:4
Author/Written By:
Douglas Berry (age)19
©2001
Thank you Marilyn for letting me use your son's, Douglas
Berry's Essay. Click the bear to check out: Marilyns Inspirational
Poetry.
This is what terrified me, when the bulding
collasped. It was unbelievable. Still to this day, this bothers me. Maybe, our Lord was being merciful and
ending it quicker. The concrete, crumbling, reduced to ash, melted steel still flashes in my brain and the crys
of people ring in my ears. How far the Grey Smog of debria which flowed quickly down the streets covering everyone with
ash.
Covered in Ash!
Search and rescue dogs which are extremely dedicated as are their owners. Aware of the sacrifices
made by these honorable people. Their devoted search dogs became an essential element in our tribute. With much
appreciation for all the rescue dogs and their owner's. Thank you for all the time you give to us.
|
|
|
