Trading our own 9-11-01 Trade Tower Recollections of Miracles Amidst the Storm of Change and Loss

The other day I spoke with a woman about my age. Somehow we got talking about who we know in NYC and she shared that her sister and brother lived there, not far from Battery Park, just a couple blocks from the World Trade Center site.

Of course I felt compelled to ask if they were there when the tragedy struck. She readily answered, "Not only were they there in NYC, but my sister worked in the second building on the 82nd floor, right where the plane struck."

The details followed that her brother and sister who are likely middle-aged as are we, went to the Trade Center together that day, with the brother dropping his sister off for work that day. He learned of the plane hitting the first tower and then the second plane hitting the next tower and feared the worse. His sister's experience unfolded in the following moment-to-moment alert from supervisors who witnessed the plane hitting the first tower and immediately telling their office personnel to leave the building.

Some did not see what was going on, including the sister since their windows were not facing the first tower. They made haste in leaving the building but not all did so as quickly and two or three likely perished for their delay or inability to heed the warning. After descending 20 flights of stairs, the stairs opened up to a room and then people had to go down a new stairwell to continue their exit. They were being told to go back up by some personnel since there was so much debris falling.

When I asked if her  sister considered doing so, she said that her sister did for only a moment but then they saw smoke coming out of the elevators and hurried out of the building with the many others. Her brother had no luck in contacting her directly, but she had left him a message that she was okay. Still, it was a few hours before he learned that she was safe and could breathe a huge sigh of relief.

They did not live in their apartments for the next few months until the air and debris was deemed safe after the clean-up. Some people never moved back to their areas, but that's still where her siblings live. Almost 15 years since the tragedy and still plenty of stories to appreciate the enormity of that day's life-changing consequences for many in profound ways and our nation and world on fundamental levels as well.

The buddy system generally is a helpful one and thankfully the sense of more people realizing the need to get out of a building rather than to 'sit tight and wait for instructions' played out in life-saving ways for those on the floors where the plane hit. I wonder how many people from floors above that site were able to descend (in an elevator or the stairs) to safety? Maybe the numbers have been run and the overall reason would be to appreciate the miracle each of them received who may have been able to beat the odds.  We have had a Patriots Day in North Canaan CT for five years where the names of those whose mortal journeys ended on September 11th, 2001 are remembered along with many who crossed over during a time of combat since then.

The event is held on the Eleventh of Septermber each year at St. Joseph's Catholic Church. I have suggested they make a recording of the names being read for others to have available and incorporate into their own times of remembrance, but that hasn't caught on yet. Maybe one will be done if not already.

The power of hearing someone's name can resonate in respectful ways differently than the written name, but it all helps in ways to acknowledge the families and communities who have their hearts especially touched and shaped by such shifts. We can take a moment here and now to reflect on the time of the great challenge and change and the time since, with special healing thoughts for all those who transitioned during that time and those lives who were impacted by those events. Looking at the stars can be a healing time to reflect on the grander scale of our world with the canvas of the universe reminding us that we each have a special place in a larger complex system. Where does love come into play?

At least for most of the people on the planet, connection was integral and hopefully generally a positive experience for their beginning time of life and early years. As people grow and determine more of their own course in life, the people and places we choose or find ourselves among can become our new support group, friends and family. Sadly some of that entails facing tougher parts of life in terms of keeping our lives running. When we can maintain ties with family and friends from earlier parts of our lives, that's an added bonus. Regrouping may be something we could recognize as helpful at whatever age and stage of life. By our 30s and 40s, often we hear of people passing from accidents or illness.

Getting to the 50s and 60s can seem like bonus years when realizing the close calls or dangers we were in linked to relationships or 'bad neighborhoods'. Clearly no one assumes they'd ever die by being hit by a plane while at work. The unthinkable in America sadly is the daily news in the Middle East. We really have few clues on how to face the huge discrepancies in life experiences and realities. The idea of living many life times or feeling empathetic towards others in terms of 'if the tables were turned, if the shoe were on the other foot, if we all changed places and lived a day, week or year (or longer) in someone else's land is more avoided than considered. We may have to find ways to bridge those gaps in care and understanding but nowadays even saying 'international' can trigger a homeland security review.

The recent visit from Pope Francis set a lovely ideal for more to ponder..what if millions of people aimed toward being reverent in their lives for a few days (or really much longer periods of time) and lived in a way that showed they cared about not only people and the planet but the 'divine' or the unknown possiblility that we may impact our own future lives (if they exist) and maybe have inherited our current life based on our previous lives (karma, choices, connections)? We cannot readily consider these ideas if we are not familiar with them. In the Catholic Church, there are some key values that few can adhere to, but which may have played a pivotal role in setting standards for women to be more aware of their role as life-bearers.

With God's grace and guidance in terms of 'waiting until marriage to mate' over the millenia, the benefits to a child being able to know his or her mother (and have a good clue about their father) could be assessed. Maybe based on various economic systems, this religious guidance was linked with wisdom. There likely is room for improvement now however since there is a high cost to living in most countries and  major changes in the cultural traditions which often supported a mother nursing and carng for her child(ren)--ideally for her health and the children's development spaced three years apart some good sources say.

The many options to have a variety of relationships and caregiving or parenting arrangements calls on more sectors of every society and community to help people understand what they may face legally (to get basic needs met and avoid charges of neglect, abuse, delinquency, truancy and not run short of basic funds to avert short-term crises with housing, food, transportation and necessities.) More education about family planning, financial guidance and support to manage funds and assets could go a long way to helping people plan more reasonably to live successfully at each stage of life.

Likely more co-housing and job-training options (even with buddy systems and ongoing team support) could open up more opportunities. While these ideas seem to have 'nothing to do with the tragedy of 9-11" they speak to answering the needs for community created by that bigger kind of awakening after the shock that we need one another..and maybe the divine too to help us pull through these times, whichever land we are living in or whatever kind of housing we have. Each person deserves tremendous care to be a wholesome part of a forest of friends.

Resembling an ecosystem where people help each other as part of living in a common area, sharing common roots of family or an area, or creating meaningful connections in their current lives can inform our directions. We all have new courses to chart since the turn of the millenia for reasons both challenging and others thankfully more inspirational. We can reflect on where we've come since then, and then ponder together where we are going in the next 15 years. The Global Oneness Event held annually by Humanity's Team online may be a good place to start. Other networks and public discussions of problems we have overlooked (as well as the people who have struggled with them in isolation or with few resources) could prove valuable in healing our world.

While we generally agree these are 'losses and painful tragedies' we may learn in time more than we can comprehend about the 'bigger reasons' any of us are here. In terms of our spiritual growth, perhaps we allow ourselves to be part of a series of lifetimes with unfolding experiences to help US-All awaken to our connectivity and the need for our caring sense of humanity to trump other paths not only for our survival as a species but even for plan-it heart to continue to bear the burden of having US-All reside and share the natural world and The Commons (resources from nature and people) in a more fair-handed, visionary way which plans for sustainability. In turn our colletive options for the future can grow in positive ways, with a sense of care and capability rather than competition to the point of disregarding ourselves (if we tend to do that out of despair or programming) and others and the environment in a balanced manner.