My father was born and raised in New York, I still have family that have never had reason to leave New York state. For me, 9-11 was very personal. It was an attack on my home, on my father's home, on my grandparent's home.
We were living in Springville, Utah, at the time of the attack, I was up, as usual getting everyone ready for school. I'd grown up watching the morning news because it was a way to keep up with events that happened overnight. I don't remember a time when I didn't watch the morning news. My mother never started her day without it.
I was getting lunches ready and clothes and all those mundane morning things, then, I saw the film of the first plane hitting one of the towers. What a horrid accident! I called my husband who had already been at work for several hours. While I spoke, I saw the second plane hit the second tower. I told my husband, sadly, "We are at war."
My cousin is a doctor. At the time he was living on Long Island. All day long, I though about him. Was he in some hospital emergency room, caring for victims, was he feeling overwhelmed, was he in shock? Did he lose friends; family? I prayed for him. I spoke to others who like myself had extended parts of their lives, under the cloud of those two fallen towers. It seemed like we were all living in a kind of silence; waiting to hear who was alright and who wasn't.
I wondered all day about where my cousin was. I convinced myself that the odds of him being near those towers had to be so small, but I was wrong. He was there, while I was praying for him, he was pulling living people away from the ground level of those towers. He was helping others live. He was in the middle of it all. I'm glad I prayed. I hope it made a difference. . . I know that what he did made a difference. The state of New York eventually declared him a hero.
I remember being so grateful for a living prophet, he gave comfort to us that evening. Speaking live from the Salt Lake Tabernacle President Gordon B. Hinckley said:
"But dark as is this hour, there is shining through the heavy overcast of fear and anger the solemn and wonderful image of the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the Prince of Peace, the Exemplar of universal love, and it is to him that we look in these circumstances. It was He who gave His life that all might enjoy eternal life." ( Gordon B. Hinckley, The Discourses of President Gordon B. Hinckley Vol 2: 2000-2004. Deseret Book. Salt Lake City. 2005. pg 503)
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