This is the third installment of posts focusing on the ten year anniversary of 9/11. Much of these posts are excerpts from a now inactive personal website I kept and wrote to at the time these events unfolded.
From the shambles of virtual pages that made up my old personal website there is a commentary piece written there titled "Something Has Been Taken From Us" dated 10/7/01. Here is what I wrote. There is some editing of grammar and emphasis added by me today.
Something has been taken from us.
It hurts me deeply to know that the day I walk the streets of New York City, I will not be able to gaze upward and see the enormous twin towers looming over me. I will not see this magnificent sight which so many others before me have seen. My children will not be able to see this sight. Only in pictures and movies will this site continue to live on. I and those who come after me will see nothing but the blue sky. For this great and awe inspiring sight has been taken from us. It has been taken by a group of people who had a point to prove. They decided it would be proper to prove it by destroying a landmark of one of America’s greatest cities.
People have been taken.
Our security has been taken. We can no longer progress leisurely through airports. We are under the constant watch of FBI, police, U.S. Martials and customs Agents. We are no longer allowed the conveniences of curbside check in and so forth. We are now forced to go through two-hour lines at airports, sporting events and even Disney land, as we must allow security to inspect every bag to ensure that everyone is safe. Our children have been shaken and now they sleep each night in a state of worry. All this is because someone took our security to scare us into respecting his or her beliefs.
Jobs have been taken. Thousands of jobs have been lost. Billions of dollars of money has been lost in income. Businesses have been destroyed. [Over] Two hundred stories and 10,000,000 [square] feet of office space between both towers have been decimated. Other buildings around the World Trade Center towers have also been destroyed along with their businesses. Our economy has been shaken as deeply as the foundations of the World Trade Center its self. This was done just because a group of people in this world wanted us to notice them.
What has not been taken from us is our freedom. It has been set forth in our Declaration of Independence that we have unalienable rights, which [among them] are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Though lives were lost, our foundations of liberty shaken and happiness shattered they are unalienable rights and are stronger than ever. What has not been taken from us is of far greater value than all that has been taken. It is not something to take for granted but it is not something to overly brag about. All we need to do is look at the flag in honor and respect and remember what we have gone through to gain those rights we continue to retain. Indeed, we have had something taken from us, but think about what has not been taken.
~~Glen~~
10/7/01
*At the time this original commentary was published, the estimated death tolls were much higher than they actually turned out to be.
Note the line in the last paragraph regarding our unalienable rights, "It is not something to take for granted but it is not something to overly brag about." This foreshadows some of the attitudes I carried over the longer term towards 9/11. I'll explain further in some of my next posts.
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