Never Forget....

….is the phrase that’s going around today.  It is the used for remembering those we lost on September 11, 2001.  People ask you to remember where you were and what you were doing during that tragic event.  

If you ask me, I will tell you I was a marine stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, SC.  I was with the VMFA 312 Checkerboards and we had only been back from a deployment a few months.  The morning started normally as I got ready for my 9 o’clock biology class.  The drive seemed normal while heading to school at the University of South Carolina-Beaufort.  The first few minutes of class started normally.  All of a sudden, some of the students in the class started receiving phone calls at the same time.  Everybody’s message said the same thing:  A plane has crashed into the world trade center!  The professor immediately ended class and said, “If you have any family who stays or is visiting New York, now is the time to see if they are safe.”  He gathered his belongings and hurried out of the class.  As I headed back to my jeep I noticed the traffic has increased dramatically.  Apparently, all military personnel were called to report to the air station.  I didn’t have a cell phone so I missed that call.  As I approach the base there was a long line of cars trying to get on base.  They had already placed the base on high alert and went into lockdown.  I didn’t find out what really happened until my squadron had a muster.   That was a week I will never forget.

That was a very sad and serious time watching those towers fall to the ground with all of those people still inside.  I don’t know anyone personally who was involved during the tragedy, but I did make sure I learned something from it.  Instead of increasing the hate towards a group of people who bears the resemblance of those involved, I try to think about the people who lost their family members during the tragedy.  Those people gave their spouse a kiss before going to work not knowing that was the last time they will ever see them alive again.  I guess where I’m going with this is instead of focusing your life on things that aren’t important like hatred, bigotry, stereotyping, and having useless arguments on the internet, spend it on more important things like family, friends, your life, etc.

I saw a snippet of Jay Leno speaking at Michael Clarke Duncan’s memorial service and he said something that really hit home to me.  He took a quote from John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem Maud Muller.  “For all the words of tongue and pen, there are no sadder words, “What might’ve been”.”   None of us have any idea of how long we have with each other, so all of the other foolishness is just a waste of time. 



Kaylee doing her "Mimi Smile"



Speaking of Mr. Duncan, he was the same age as my mother when she passed on May 12, 2012.  She turned 55 on the day of her funeral on May 18th.  This is probably the first time I’ve spoken about her outside of my immediate family since her passing.  I really do miss her, and I would give anything for at least five more minutes with her.  That can’t happen so all I can do is just rely on my memory and whatever pictures and video we do have of her.  I am at least happy to say my seven year son did really get the chance to know her enough to where he will have a great memory of her.  They were practically best friends, and I am extremely grateful for that.  My daughter is three and I hope she maintains some memory of her.  I know my family will help her with that.  I still see my mother in Kaylee because they do resemble each other.  She was one of the blessings in my life that I am still having a hard time accepting the fact that she’s not here anymore.  She taught me how to be grateful of what I have and to learn to not worry so much about life’s issues and move on.   To this day, when I go to her house, which I still refer it to “mama’s house”, I still walk to her room hoping one day I will see her sitting on her bed reading, knitting, or watching television.  Although I know she won’t be there it still hurts not seeing here there.   I try not to focus on the sad times by celebrating her life.  I can say proudly that without her support and encouragement, it would’ve been difficult going through Marine Corps boot camp, spending Christmas on deployment, and finishing school.  She gets a lot of the credit for me being an engineer.  I will never forget the great person she was.

Semper Fi