Honoring by remembering

I, like most people in the world, will never forget everything about Sept 11, 2001. I remember how I woke up that morning...a call from our friend Steve Kostorowski from DC. He kept yelling into our answering machine to wake up. I had just gotten done working the US Open and had flown back to LA a few days before. I was set to fly back to NYC the next day. I remember sitting on the bed in utter shock all morning. I remember talking to as many people as I could get in touch with to make sure they were okay. I remember crying and disbelieving over and over again. I remember being annoyed at our local bakery because they didn't have the news on their radio. They were playing music and going about their day and I wanted to punch them and say, "Do you realize what just happened?!"

All this remembering is a good thing, I think. It still makes me sad and I hurt for all the families who lost loved ones in the tragedy. But I feel that if I don't forget. That if I remember. I am honoring them. If I remember, then they know they are not forgotten. I know they were heroes that day and will forever be a hero in my book. If I remember and think that, I believe somehow, someway they will know it.

I am just one person who, thank goodness, did not lose a friend in the tragedy. I was very lucky and I know that. That is something I will remember as well. Sept. 11 is a sad day but it can also be a day to honor and count our blessings. That is what I choose to do.