September 11th 2001 - 2016 (2019)

"Sleep tonight...and may your dreams be realized..."

What can I say about this day that you are unaware of? What can I tell you that memes and eye witness accounts will not? Maybe not much...

Yet it behooves me to tell you that this day impacted many lives...including my own. I could tell you that a bitterness festered in me for some time. I could tell you that on that day I was prepared to die protecting my children but I could also tell you that the true lesson of that day has been seared in me and continues to strengthen even without this day's reminder.

My loves, there are no guarantees to life. A truth that bears the weight of this day on a yearly basis. We went to sleep the night before just like every other night. We awoke and went through our morning routine just like any other day. We had no idea the day would force us to actively reveal our
manifested priorities. That the worlds we live in would change.

I thought immediately to call my then wife and go pick up my boys from school in haste. My mind and heart fiercely shifted into the idea that we all needed to be together if anything else happened. I
called my loved ones praying that they were all OK. To find them all alive brought me peace. So you see my loves, you can take this day and mourn the losses but you can also take this day to thank God that you and yours are still alive. That we've been blessed by mercy to continue living and loving. Although now, to not take love for granted by appreciating family and friends we are blessed to still have...where others do not.

A beautiful soul wrote that this day was a good time to take stock of what is most important...family and friends. I don't need to see buildings falling as the images are etched in my soul. Nor do I need to remember how many passed as that too was made clear the day the air's fragrance carried with it ash co-mingled with the smell of crushed death. Although these have their import as reminders, I choose to thank God that all I love is still here to cherish...still here to hold. So in the midst of the heartfelt sorrow or anger you may feel from this day, take a moment to look around. Finding peace when you see your children playing. Laughing because your friend is sharing as yet another complaint. Feeling the lump in your throat when you still get calls from your parents asking you if you ate. May this day make all those things we may have taken for granted all the more valuable. May we all take stock and learn to love and to hold more fiercely. This is my 9/11...much love

~Moses