Fixed Points in Time

Originally written 9/11/2018 - still true.

 1. Grief has touched us all, and the loss of 1 loved one is just as valid as the loss of another. This is true no matter how a life ended - in a tower; on a hijacked plane; in your arms in a hospital after a surgery.

2. Donations to charities, for first responders and volunteers who put themselves into harms way often, are welcomed on a local level just as much as the help is welcomed by the brave souls at Ground Zero.

3. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) happens to the volunteers of the local firefighting truck & ladder just as sure as it happens with full fledged firefighters - and they need just as much compassion and care.

4. Grief does not stop. Some learn to carry it. Some never do. Rather than "fixing" someone, sit down next to them and just *be there.* Silence can soothe a soul far more deeply than words.

5. Today is marked as a fixed point of history. "Where were you that day?" We ask just as often about Kennedy's assassination, Oswald's death by Jack Ruby, the Challenger Explosion. For a moment, we tasted the daily fear other countries have accepted as the status quo. We had no one we could call on. Our seeming invincibility on the Global Stage fell, as we fell to our knees.

So commemorate the historical tragedy today. Recall where you were. Feel your love of this country in your blood as you react to the unfathomable.

I only suggest that we recall the pain of loss as it has touched our lives in that most intimate of ways - the loss of those we loved so much, so sincerely.

I struggle to carry myself as the person who my loved ones wanted me to become. I fail routinely at "letting go" of the grief every missing piece of my heart pours into my soul. But I continue to try. And I always will. Always.