Amen! AND, RIP to all those whose names you posted FiveO. Thanks for doing that---nice tribute. I know about a dozen names on the list. Parents of children in my kids' school, neighbor's relatives, baseball coaches, little league/basketball ump/ref's son, etc.
Our parish & elementary school lost the most parishioners on Staten Island. Very, very sad. Many have gone on with their lives but they will never be the same. My heart still breaks everytime I see the children of some of those young fathers who lost their daddy at such a young age.
I was home after dropping the kids off at school on an absolutely picture-perfect September morning, when my (ex) husband called to say he saw the WTC on fire while he was commuting by bus through NJ. I told him he was nuts since I was watching the news on tv and nothing was on about it. No sooner did I say that, then the horrible images were in front of me. I couldn't believe my eyes and got on the phone with my mom. My sister in law at the time worked at one the firms that lost many employees and was located on a floor above 100. I used to always tease her telling her she was nuts to work in that building on such a high floor. (I had been to Windows on the World once while dating my husband and swore I would never enter the buiding again. The elevator ride to the restaurant which was on the 107(?) floor was a nightmare for me. That elevator was so fast and since it was only the 2 of us as pax, shook so much, I was nearly in tears.) It took several hours to reach my sister in law who told us her bus that she commuted on had just pulled up to the block to let her off when the plane hit. Thankfully, she was running late that day! They just closed the door and drove as fast as they could the other way.
I vaguely remember driving to my kids' school to take them home and having to explain to them the best I could, what happened. We tried to shield them from the television, but it was impossible. I do remember seeing people walking home after obviously escaping Ground Zero. They were covered in soot and ash. These are memories that are forever burned in my brain. I will NEVER forget the thoughts that ran through my mind for days after that. I don't think I slept or ate for that matter for a couple of days. I, like so many others, walked around like a zombie trying to make sense of it all.
I too, will NEVER forget OR forgive the monsters who carried out that day's events.