9/11.....a thought process

Ten years ago, sitting in a downtown office in New York City, I had many thoughts running through my head.

The first of which was trying to process the enormity of what had just happened. Hijacks, terrorist suicide, crash landings, and an act of war were all words and phrases that circled the wagon otherwise known as my eyes.

So now I was half way home. I knew what I was thinking as it related to the day's events. Now it was time to move on to the other half. What were the perpetrators thinking?

Yes, I eventually figured out that the terrorists wanted to use our own planes against us, destroy national landmarks, and wreak havoc on several thousand lives as well. But as the weeks began to pass, I found myself once again asking, "what were they thinking?"

Did these trained assassins and their leaders not think that there would be retribution? Did they not think that it would bring our nation together in complete unity? (at least for awhile anyway). Could they not surmise that we would eventually win the game of hide and seek and find their militant masterminds? Or that these events wouldn't force the improvement of our security personnel?

I couldn't know for sure. In fact, I still don't. Because the attacks from a decade ago still seem unfathomable to us all.

Today we commemorate and honor those who fought and lost their lives 10 years ago. We do this with flowers, processions, and speeches not only at Ground Zero, but in small towns and communites across the country.

At the most symbolic site of all, buildings have once again risen. A pool glistens with a continuous flow of water, symbolic of the memories of those we lost, forever alive in our collective consciousness. The names of the deceased are emblazoned in stone all around this pool, once a pool of blood, and now of water. Families snapped photographs of the names of their loved ones, and some even used paper to trace them, so they had a version at home as well.

Politicians arrived but left politics behind. Religion was absent from the ceremonies with the only reference at all being, "God Bless America." The media broadcasts had more moments of silence than moments of commentary.

Just what were the terrorists thinking now? Ten years later, we came together as one yet again. The city rebuilt and so did many companies, fire stations, and families. The buildings rose once more and so did we. Because that's what this country does. It remembers, it heals, and it moves forward.

Whatever your thoughts are today, make them proud. And let's hope that next time terrorists plan to think....they do it twice.