Please share your views and let us cut out the middleman, how do you and your family feel about the event? How is you town feeling about the events, one year later? Do you feel that we have come any closer to preventing another attack? Have we as a people done anything to improve our relationships to remove the root cause of the event?

edited to make it much shorter....

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 2 times, lastly by Nathen on Sep 25, 2002 ---</FONT></center>

I got an e-mail that was asking folks to have their car headlights on when they drove during the day in honor of Sept 11...

Nathen,
Lots of good questions--I'm sure there are many different answers. I for one, am a little more jittery, wondering if someone out there is planning another attack or something. I feel the day needs to be marked in some way, a remembrance to those lost. Our town is planning a remembrance on our town square, and I would like to be part of it, but I am working that night.

Last year's attack really opened my eyes to the fact that we are not the world's "good guy" as we mmight have wanted to believe. I ran into a Walt Whitman poem the other day that says a lot, even though it was written long ago. Here it is:


OVER THE CARNAGE ROSE PROPHETIC A VOICE

Over the carnage rose prophetic a voice,
Be not dishearten'd, affection shall solve the problems of freedoom yet.
Those who love each other shall become invincible,They shall yet make Columbia victorious.

Sons of the Mother of All, you shall yet be victorious,
You shall yet laugh to scorn the attacks of all the remainder of the earth.

No danger shall balk Columbia's lovers,
If need be a thousand shall sternly immolate themselves for one.

One from Massachusetts shall be a Missourian's comrade.
From Maine and from hot Carolina, and another an Oregonese, shall be friends triune,
More precious to each other than all the riches of the earth.

To Michigan, Florida perfumes shall tenderly come,
Not the perfumes of flowers, but sweeter, and wafted beyond death.

It shall be customary in the houses and streets to see manly affection,
The most dauntless and rude shall touch face to face lightly,
The dependence of Liberty shall be lovers,
The continuance of Equality shall be comrades.
These shall tie you and band you stronger than hoops of iron.
I ecstattic, O partners! O lands! with the love of lovers tie you.
(Were you looking to be held together by lawyers?
Or by an agreement on a paper? or by arms?
Nay, nor the world, nor any living thing, will so cohere.)


Sorry it's so long, but it really hit me, and I'm not usually a big fan of poetry. I really do think we have to win this thing one on one, and see every person as a friend, not looking at generalities or stereotypes.

There you go, I'm climbing down from my soapbox now.

Take a bow before you climb down, Pat. That was beautiful. Thanks for sharing words of hope in a time of sadness.

No, we certainly haven't done much to improve relationships. Of course, you don't need bad relationships, or clearcut causes for terrorism. Oklahoma City stands as an example of that. It was carried out by a member of one of the most privileged populations on the planet. I don't mean that we shouldn't try to do better, just that it's not always possible to avoid hate. It's hard to be on the right side of things when all sides seem so wrong, so much of the time, too. There are so many different players in all this, so many different kinds of nations and individuals. It's kind of mind boggling when think about them all - Somalia, Israel/Palestine, India/Pakistan not to mention Iraq who we're either going to invade or we're not. Place your bets. And of course we can't forget our good buddies the Saudis...right.

Our town is the suburbs of NYC and there are many survivors of people who were lost. Many people here were touched very directly by the WTC part of 9/11. I don't have any strong feelings the anniversary, though. It doesn't seem like a year. The relative that my husband's family lost in the attack was just "found" recently. It seems like the dust has barely settled, so somehow it doesn't seem like it's time yet for remembrances, cause who could have forgotten in this short a time. And it's still going on, too..the putting lives back together and moving on. It's not nearly done.

Every problem we've had as a country has gotten worse since 9/11, and we've got a bunch of new ones as well. But we're still here. We're losing civil liberties. We'll get them back sooner or later. We need some real new laws to cover some of the legitimately problematic situations that have arisen and for other situations we just need to get a grip and elect ourselves and administration that's a bit more careful of what precedents they're setting. We will eventually. Don't know how long it'll take.

I don't know what real changes will have taken place when all this is really history, but I do know that I'll never look up at a beautiful blue sky on a perfect morning again, without a sharp awareness that peace can be shattered here, just as anywhere in the world, without a moment's notice.

Let's all hope for the best.

I think that the WTC/DC attacks brings us as a nation, face to face with the fact that something way out in left field can suddenly come into our lifes and turn it upside down.

I know that many times, people have faced this on their own or with their family, when a sudden accident or death affects them, and even towns have been joined in the pain, sometimes even whole areas of the country have been affected by storms or what have you, but this event seems to have reached nearly every part of the world.

I hope someday to awake and find Ike once more in the White House, but then again, we are not having to "DUCK AND COVER" right now so maybe, just maybe, things are not going to Hell in a handbasket after all?

Does anyone know where that saying "Going to Hell in a handbasket" came from?

It seems impossible that it's a year already, but then a lot has happened since then. We've learned AGAIN that there's no going back, for one. I had thought a few months ago that I would want to take off work on the 11th, but as it nears, I think it's better to "carry on," except in the morning, to observe a time of silence. If a national one is not called for, I'll just do it myself. Surely one will be announced. Around here, headlights are always on, anyway, so that no longer carries any meaning other than traffic safety. We'll fly our flag. I don't know what else to do.

Nathen, for one discussion on "hell in a handbasket," see http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-goi1.htm

Like Ceashel, I plan to observe my own moment of silence (if one is not called for nationally)and fly the flag. My thoughts will be with the families of those who were lost that day. It is hard to believe it's been a year.

Today, in downtown Grand Rapids at the Van Andel arena, the city and fire department are conducting a chemical bomb drill. Didn't think I'd ever see the need for that here.

According to the local radio, here, we can rememebr Sept.11, from noon till ten with prayers and songs, to remember and to show support for the USA.

I am thinking that our President just may see this as a good time to attack Iraq.

thank you all for your input.

Here's a small way to make your voice part of a larger effort--of course, what would the quilt lady recommend, but a quilt--this one involves NO sewing--just adding a greeting or thought to an on-line "quilt"--here's the web site:
http://www.911memorialquilt.com/quilt/createPatch.html

Enjoy <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif" width=15 height=15>

A new friend told me about a singer/songwriter named Slaid Cleaves. Looking over his website I found this, and wanted to share it here.

By special request: Slaid's additional lyrics to Woody Guthrie's This Land is Your Land:

In New York City
Statues cry
Ten thousand nightmares
Tumble from the sky
We gaze in wide wonder
And we ask why
This land was made for you and me

What a heart of darkness
Inside a man
Can cast his hatred
Clear across the land
But hatred fails
When as one we stand
This land was made for you and me

Nathen: I, personally, lost a friend in the WTC disaster. He was a dedicated worker who, because he arrived at his job with the New York State Dept. of Taxation and Finance office on the 86th floor early, as was his custom, perished. I would rather think of him as a hero rather than a victim because, ultimately, all are heroes who go about their business of supporting their family quietly and without fanfare. You don't have to perform a heroic act to be a hero, in my book.

If 'heros' or 'victims' deosn't seem to work, try 'brothers' and 'sisters'. We all lost friends we'll never meet. But I can only imagine the pain and outrage over a true friend. Sorry for your loss, mikey.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Still Batty:

If 'heros' or 'victims' deosn't seem to work, try 'brothers' and 'sisters'. We all lost friends we'll never meet. But I can only imagine the pain and outrage over a true friend. Sorry for your loss, mikey.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You are so right Batty, I agree, we did all suffer some loss, Mikey, I also feel for your loss, while I am still at odds with the concept of heros and victims, Batty says it so very well.