Forty-eight hours after the inconceivable tragedy suffered by our country, we have all been deeply touched and changed forever. We huddle around our televisions and search the internet for the latest information. We listen to news channels in our cars as we try to move about our daily business, but it is hard. Friends and colleagues share that it is difficult to focus, our routine tasks trivialized in the wake of the phenomenal loss of innocent people. Everyone has suffered the loss of not only family and loved-ones who are victims of the atrocious act of terrorism that occurred on September 11, 2001, but also the loss of feeling secure in our homes, offices and the invulnerability of our great nation.
We mourn not in the traditional black, but by wearing the colors of patriotism and pride in our country. We have now experienced the most cowardly evil of which mankind is capable, and yet it is juxtaposed against the acts of heroism, courage and compassion of which we learn daily. Emails crisscross our country - tales of sacrifice, prayer chains, more horror and sorrow. Hope diminishes as rescue workers continue to dig through the rubble of what had stood tall and mighty Monday as symbols of our nation's strength.
The ripple effects touch everyone, even our children, for whom we have worked hard to create a better world, our efforts suddenly thwarted. Throughout our large cities, field trips were canceled, children were kept inside in a virtual lock down as teachers and parents tried to determine how to explain the inexplicable to children whom we try to shield from such a violent thrust out of childhood innocence. Not only do our financial markets remain closed, but payrolls, normally delivered by FedX or UPS, will not arrive, hundreds of thousands are stranded away from those that they most want to be with now, the skies eerily silent as airports remain closed. More far reaching effects still are inconceivable to most of us.
We can only hope that from the chaos a new strength will be found. We hope that this will never happen again, here, or anywhere else in the world. We temper our anger and desire for revenge with humanity. We pray that more survivors will be found and we pray for those who suffer from the loss of loved ones. We pray for peace.
