Remembering September 10th

Its the 5th anniversary of the Sept 11th attacks on the US and there are programmes on TV and articles in the newspaper lined up to commemorate it. They all roughly say the same thing - "...terrible tragedy...", "...the day the world changed..." etc etc

No doubt it was a horrible, shocking event but for me Sept 11th 2001 evokes those feeling for a more personal reason. I was at the funeral of my beloved grandmother when the attacks happened.

My Mahmah passed away in the early hours of the morning the previous day. We had rushed to the nursing home to take her to the hospital but we were too late. She was gone by the time we got there.

The funeral was organised for the next day, Sept 11th. It was an emotionally draining day that lasted till the night. At around 9 or 10 o'clock at night, I remember people going inside the house to watch the news of the attacks on TV. When I see the images on TV now, it is terrible but at that time I was just numb to it all.

My grandmother and I were very close. She brought me, my brother & sister up and had lived with us since before I was born. She was a constant presence in my life and taught me a lot from her own experiences and principles of living, having been through a lot in her long life.

She is still in my heart. Every day I try to live as she taught me, I try to remember all her life lessons and things she said to me. It gets harder every year as my memory fades, but I try.

Has it really been 5 years since she left us? Sometimes I still can't believe it. I feel she is still looking out for us. I know she is in a better place and I feel comforted by that thought.

Mahmah, we are all doing fine here, don't worry. I still miss you and think of you all the time. Take care & be at peace.