Sunday, August 28, 2011

Birthdays, disasters and 9/11

Good evening!
My birthday was this past Thursday, and Peter's was the 18th,
so we celebrated:



Then, on Tuesday, there was a bit of an earthquake. Weird. I was on my lunch break at work, outside on a bench, and after I convinced myself I wasn't having a panic attack, but the bench was indeed shaking, I realized what was happening. Our building was shut down, and we all went home early. BUT everything checked out fine, and aside from a lot of stuff falling off the top of some of our shelves, it was like nothing ever happened.

Then we had a hurricane. Apparently. It appeared to be more of a large rainstorm from where we live, and we didn't lose power or trees or cars, but I do feel for those who are experiencing loss.

Earlier yesterday, before Hurricane Irene was set to arrive, I drove the 3 hours up to Shanksville, Pa., the site of the crash of United 93, for work. I read all about what the passengers went through in those terrifying final moments, and thought a little too much about it all and how scary it must have been. The memorial promises to be very beautiful when it is complete in 2014.


That white wall is phase 1 of 3 for the memorial. It has the names of all 40 passengers and crew who were killed (excluding the hijackers). If you follow the wall down, that's the flight path that United 93 came in at. 50 feet off the ground, upside down, before crashing at the end of that mowed grassy region. The crater created by the crash was filled in once the remains of all 40 passengers and the hijackers were identified. Closure that loved ones from the Twin Towers and the Pentagon may never have. It is coming up on the 10-year anniversary of this tragic day, and sometimes I still cannot believe it ever happened. But at the same time will never forget.


Please take the time to look at the websites for the memorials being created in remembrance of the heroes of 9/11:



Warmly,
Emily

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