On This Patriot Day, Let Us Remember

I remember driving on the freeway on the way to work 19 years ago. I heard on the radio that the Twin Towers were attacked. I couldn’t believe it. I worked in the library at Don Bosco Technical Institute. Usually, I made sure that it was quiet in the library so that others can study or work on their homework. On that day, 19 years ago, we had the TV on. We saw the unbelievable attacks. But, that was reality.

Today, September 11, is Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance. We remember the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks and the firefighters, police officers, and other emergency workers who died. Thousands of people lost someone they loved. Those firefighters, police officers, and emergency workers died doing the work they chose in life. They knew that their jobs could bring them to dangerous situations. Their work was their calling in life. And they were faithful to their vocation to the end. They died in service to others.

One of my friends had a son who was born about a week after September 11, 2001. Her son chose to be a Marine. My husband and I thought it was interesting that he was born soon after the worst tragedy of the United States and maybe that’s why he wanted to serve and defend the United States of America. The life of the son of my friend was ended too soon during a training exercise. My husband and I went to his funeral earlier this month.

When I talked to my friend that day, she asked us to pray for her son and she mentioned that he was now their guardian angel. My friend loved her son very deeply. Even though she knew that her son could die as a Marine, she surrendered to a love that granted her only son to enter the Marines. My son’s friend was faithful to the end. And my friend is faithful, asking us to pray for him and believing that her son is her family’s guardian angel. My friend’s son died in service to others.

During this Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance, let us remember the victims of the terrorist attacks, those who died in service to others, and those who lost someone they loved.