Thoughts on the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001

      I just wanted to ask everyone here, on this somber Sunday, before we get excited about watching the NFL or MLB or before we talk about the race in Richmond or the college football games last night or even before we go to church and/or do whatever you plan to do today, September 11, 2011, to take a moment or two to reflect on the events that occurred ten years ago today. Ten years. It seems like a lifetime ago, and in a sense, it has been. I am in a different place, both literally and figuratively, than I was 10 years ago. I am ten years older, maybe a little wiser (I hope), and a little heavier with a few more white hairs on my head and less of other things than I had on September 10, 2001. But even as I sit writing this on the other side of the Earth, I still remember this day like it happened yesterday. This country was changed forever by these events, much like the lives of our grandparents and great-grandparents were changed on December 7, 1941, which ultimately brought us into World War II. Whatever innocence we had, or thought we had up to September 10, 2001, is gone now, never to be recovered. We still struggle with that fallout every day. I remember what it was like to not have to go through TSA checkpoints to get on planes or to be able to carry large drinks from home straight to the plane and even not having to pay for checking baggage on a plane. No more of any of that, unfortunately.
    Those of us who are old enough know where we were and what we were doing on this horrific day when we lost thousands of American citizens, mostly civilians, in New York, Virginia (at the Pentagon) and in Pennsylvania and the thousands more we have lost, directly or indirectly from the war on terror and from the grief of less we all feel every day. We each will remember this day in our own way, in our own style. Allow each other to do that. New memorials are nearly in place now and they will be constant reminders of what we have lost, but they also will remind us of what we have gained. We gained strength and love for each other as Americans. This generation of young(er) Americans now understand better what Pearl Harbor meant and felt like to our grandparents and great-grandparents. We now understand better that the price of freedom is a rather high price. Indeed, it is not paid in one payment 200-plus years, but paid every day in our vigilance and often in the loss of brave folk, both on and off the battlefield. War is hell, without a doubt, but remembering those we lose as a result of such, is no easier.

    I thought that September 11, 2001 would be an “average” September Tuesday, but it wasn't. This day has changed my life forever and my definition of “an average day”. These attacks have changed the lives of every American as well, even for those who were yet to enter this world, like my son and so many other children born on this day and since then. For those of us who (have or used to) work in the travel industry, owners, leaders and employees alike, this day have great professional meaning to us too. We kept things in perspective, and even with dealing with our own grief and pain, we did our jobs the best we could every day since, even with every change the industry withstood, even with every lost job and/or every revenue stream lost.

    We in travel (did and still) do our part to help people travel around the country and around the world, both for business and for leisure. If we hadn’t done our work (even with heavy hearts) like we did, the terrorists would have won. Travel professions do our part to keep America strong, every day and night. Be proud of this, and never forget that, even if no one else ever says so.

     I have traveled around the world and seen a lot of things, both good and bad, in the last ten years and made a few friends, and made some enemies. So be it. First and foremost, I am proud to be an American and proud of my fellow Americans and our country. No matter where I have been, or where I am, or where I lay my head tonight or whom I lay my head next to tonight, tomorrow or whenever, this day will always have deep meaning for me, personally, even more than it had before.

    September 11 already had great personal meaning for me. Those people out there who know me best know what I mean. In the last ten years, that personal meaning has increased to unmeasured levels. That will never change. We know (and will never forget) who many of these people that caused these attacks are. Some are dead, some still hide like the cowards they are. But many of them are still in the shadows, and may always be. Please say a prayer for all for the people who were lost on this tragic day, and on those other dark days and for those brave souls who passed away in the days after, defending our freedom and/or trying to save the lives of fellow citizens, familiar and stranger alike. Say a prayer for all of those people that were left behind, young and old, who have to continue to live life, pick up the pieces, and have to try to be strong in the face of unfathomable grief, both near and far, especially today.
    Say a prayer for those who have had to take the place of those we have lost, both at home and abroad, who are doing the job of defending us and/or supporting these brave men and women, and to those friends and/or family who travel with them and support them unconditionally and/or who must stay behind and keep the faith and the home fires burning. They all willingly sacrifice a lot (more than most of us can know) to do this and we must never forget. I sure don’t and won’t.

    Say a prayer for our leaders and for President Obama, the second President to have to make the tough decisions in this new reality, he who has to send some of us into harm's way even as he tries to bring others home after they have fought to defend our way of life on foreign soil and sand and in proverbial safe harbors at home and around the world for so long after this horrible day. These horrible people that hate us so much for whatever unknown reasons and those who tried UNSUCCESSFULLY to tear this nation down and whom can NEVER understand how and why they failed and why they always will. .

    Say a prayer for the brave men and women who protect us, both at home and on the battlefields around the world, every day and every night at our leaders’ directions. Say a prayer for the brave Navy SEALS who completed the mission to (finally) bring final resolution and true American justice to the mastermind of these horrible acts a few months ago, who was hiding in Pakistan and who finally got what he deserved for what he led others to do. Say a prayer to the families of the brave men who were killed just a few days later in Afghanistan, on a mission to save their brothers from attack by the enemy, as well as for every military man and woman we have lost in these last ten years (and over our nation’s young history) defending our freedom, without hesitation or doubt. Say a prayer for all of their families who (have and always will) support them no matter how things go, good or bad, whether they are living overseas with them or when they can only be with them in spirit as these brave military folk do their work while leaving their families behind.

    We must never forget why these brave volunteers made these choices, knowing what could happen to them in battle or in peace and why they would have it no other way.  Please support President Obama and those who work with and for him as they their best to do what is right for us, pray for them to be as moral and merciful as they can and allow them to know that we, this great nation's citizens, has their back and has our thanks, even if we do not agree with every decision they make or do not make.
       Lastly, always remember that it is the job of all of us, young and old to make sure that the next generation understands what occurred that day, and in the days, months and years that followed, so they understand without question why that this day must NEVER be forgotten by anyone who loves this country and/or who supports what we, as a nation, stands for and has defended to the end for a little more than two and a quarter centuries and what we will always continue to defend with honor, respect, loyalty and dignity, Lord willing, until the day we die. We must never EVER forget this day or what we collectively and individually lost when these buildings fell and the fires raged and the horror threatened to overwhelm us as a result of the cowardly acts of a few. We will honor those we have lost in every prayer, every remembrance, and in everything we do, both large and small, wherever we are, because their sacrifices paid (and continue to pay) the price for the rest of us to live free, to travel near an far, and never be afraid of the past, the present or the future. Thank you to you all. May God Bless the United States of America!