9/11/2011 is a day that will forever be tattooed in our memories. Many lost their lives in The Twin Towers - I honestly don't have the words needed to express my sincere sorrow for those whose lives were taken from us due to the acts of Terrorism. There are times when you need the words of a poet, but you are stuck in the body of a simple man. (As as many of you already know, for me to be rendered speechless is a amazing to begin with).
The 9/11 Memorial Flag was born from this travesty. (Link) Rescued from Ground Zero, and restored by the loving hands of Americans, it has had a long journey. Through 50 states and countless hearts, its final stop was in a town that, before May 22/2011, many couldn't have pointed out on a map - my Joplin, Missouri. A better stop, there couldn't be. The people in this previously unknown Missouri city came together after events that destroy cities three times their size...and the world found a community within the rubble of a Tornado. To say that I'm proud to live here is an understatement, to say the least.
Below are a couple of photos that I took from participating in this historic day.
"Buildings of Stone and Metal can be torn asunder and rendered to sand and scraps - and replaced. Not so easily, Man-kind". I've heard this quote for so long, and I couldn't begin to tell you where it came from... but to me, it exemplifies the human condition. Buildings go up - Building go down. We have a limited number of years on Earth, but have the ability, with help of God's Grace, to leave lasting effects that outlive the lives of our grandchildren's grandchildren. This is is our mission - to leave the world a little bit better than we found it. If we can say that we did that when God calls us home, then our life was worth it all. A building can be replaced, but the lives within those walls are entirely different.
On 9/11/01, many people where called home too early. They left this world all to soon, but we will never forget their memory, nor the actions that many did for others. They made the world a little bit better, and for that, I'm proud to be an American. Still, I cry for their loss and my prayers stay with their families.
Since I started blogging years ago, my original intent was merely to focus on photos. There are many blogs that people have and update regularly (including my own wife!) that are much more interesting. The whole reason I even started blogging was because I had this love that I wanted to share - Photography. I have always stressed to minimize words, in lieu of focusing on photos...as you can see from this specific blog post, I have gone a different way. This is because I am moved by this day...if my words go no further than this web page, at least I was able to express what I had in my heart.
I will conclude this post by reciting the words of a song known to many of us...
"O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming.Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming.And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.O say, does that star-spangled banner yet waveO'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
God Bless America.
-JM
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