The 9/11 Memorial opens today to families and friends of those lost on 9/11, 2001:
Prominent in many pictures in the aftermath and cleanup after World Trade towers fell, was this Globe of the world (pictured above), damaged, yet in tact... It now sits in Battery Park as a memorial of 9/11. The Globe was left, as it survived, a symbol of the will of the American Spirit... I'm watching 9/11 10 year Anniversary and opening of the memorial in NYC... Memories of that somber morning flooding back as I pay tribute to our beloved Americans whose lives were severed with no warning or choice... Your memories continue to burn bright in loved one's hearts.
I personally did not lose a family member or friend. I am, as well as three-hundred-plus million Americans mourn the loss of or fellow brethren. The world as we knew it, changed. The one person I did worry about was my brother. In 2001, he was recently hired by United Airlines. He recently finished his training on the 777. That was one of my first thoughts that raced through my mind, as I was standing in pajamas in front of the TV at 6:15 am “Oh my gosh… my brother flies trans-continental… is he flying right now?”. Irony upon ironies, shortly after 9/11, he was furloughed by United Airlines and now flies for Etihad (meaning, “united” in Arabic), an airline of the United Arab Emirates, and lives in Dhubai.
Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, my alarm goes off at 6am… The Sacramento sports radio station blares from the minute muffled speakers of my clock radio the news at the top of the morning; I faintly hear as I reach for the snooze bar that there were reports that a plane has hit one of the world trade center towers… I thought some beginner pilot in a Cessna got lost over the Hudson Lodi California
Yet… In essence, I too mourn the loss of my fellow Americans. We all carry an unwavering outlook and perseverance. We became US citizens because our ancestors immigrated to the land of opportunity, a country built upon the principles of building upon a legacy of giving the future a better life. Even with our flaws, our growing pains (we aren’t even 300 years old, as a country), there is no place on earth like United States of America
As our nation mourned in the days ensuing September 11, there was a question raised amongst the rescue workers, the NYPD and the FDNY among others on what would make them feel better, and the one reply echoed thousands of times over, “I can’t wait for Sunday, so I can just watch a football game”, “I look forward to watching some baseball, to help get my mind off the grief I see everyday”… Sports. Seeing athletes perform feats and play a game we all dreamed about playing ourselves was an escape and visual treat lifting our spirits when needed most. It was truly fitting that New York
With that said, I bring a few of the touching stories of those lost on 9/11… many of them, were athletes or linked to sports in some way (You may want to grab some kleenex):
MLB’s tribute:
Len Berman “Mr. New York
Rick Reilly and tribute remembering Flight 93:
A young avid cyclist honoring her dad whom died on 9/11:
The man with the Red Bandana:
Finally, a Christina Taylor Green, born on 9/11/2001 who died last year during an attack of her Congresswoman, whom she went to meet and speak with in Arizona:
