Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States. My wife had spent time with a number of cops and firefighters several years previous while in New York with her wheelchair sports team. They had been acting as chaperones for the group. Some of the firefighters she knew were among those who gave their lives doing their duty that day.
Yesterday our son, Conor, would have been two months old.
Life is filled with the greatest of sorrows and the most private of tragedies. These cannot be avoided. I believe that happiness comes not from living a life without pain, but from enduring that pain and surviving. Becoming stronger because you have faced hardship and seen the light that comes after. Even when we've suffered the worst we thought we could stand, we owe it to ourselves and those we have lost to carry on and find beauty in our lives.
Some events change the whole world. Others just change our own. I didn't lose anyone on September 11th, but I have watched those that did. I have seen a city, one of my favourite cities in the world, rebuild and watched its people find strength from rebuilding together.
Now, I've got some editing to do, and more books to write.
Sep 12, 2011
10 Years Ago
Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.
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Very touching post, Paul. Wishing you and Jen all the best.
ReplyDeleteI so agree, Paul. Well said.
ReplyDeleteYou always write wonderful and uplifting words.
ReplyDeleteI hope we can all learn by the personal and global tragedies we see and that it will bring people together.
Thanks.