It's rare that I am at a loss for words. I volunteered to do this, but I am having a hard time putting one word after another. I am an English teacher, a writer. I love our language. But the bottom line is, there are no adequate words.
I'll never forget that day: the shock, the horror, the fear, the feeling that
nothing will ever be the same.
I can't begin to fathom how nothing will ever be the same for the Glenn family of Piscataway, N.J.
Harry Glenn worked for Marsh & McLennan, a software company on the 97th floor of the World Trade Center, inside the first tower to collapse.
His wife Sharon knew he was in the building at the time of the attack because he was always on time.
On September 10, their son Jaylen had turned 7. Days later, his mom had to tell him his father was never coming home.
* * *
When I volunteered to pay tribute to one of the victims of September 11th, Harry Glenn was assigned to me. I'm sure I would have felt a connection to whomever I'd been assigned, but the fact remains that I'll turn 38 next month and I have a 6 year old whose devastation I cannot even imagine were she to hear such tragic news.
My heart goes out to Harry and his entire family. How do you carry on after losing someone so dear to your heart? He was survived by not only a wife and son, but also four brothers and his parents. Friends and former co-workers, cousins and others have left messages in tribute and honor all over the web where victims of 9/11 have been memorialized.
* * *
Dear Glenn family and friends,
I am very sorry for your loss.
* * *
On one hand, I want to stay out of the way and honor this man, this family, this tragedy. On the other hand, I cannot help but try to relate. I am not a survivor of this tragedy, though I have suffered losses of my own.
I am feeling the loss myself for a valuable member of our race, our human race, an upstanding member of the community.
I am reminded that unlike the movies, when a violent crime takes place, there are no happy endings. Most people go on with their lives, but not those of us left behind with our worlds bashed in.
* * *
I thought of the song by Crowded House, Never Be the Same:
We might still survive
And rise up through the maze
If you could change your life
And never be the same
Don't stand around
Like friends at a funeral
Eyes to the ground
Don't suffer in silence
'Cause we might still survive
And rise up through the maze
If you could change your life
And never be the same
* * *
I feel like one of those "friends at a funeral, eyes to the ground" because I don't know what to say.
I'm sure members of Harry's family are suffering in silence most days if not today. They're still thinking of him every day, but they can't and don't talk about him, his absence, his presence, every day. There are large and small reminders of him everywhere. Anniversaries like this one cannot be easy.
I will say a prayer for the Glenn family today and every time I think of 9/11 from now on.
When the smoke clears and you pick up the pieces of your lives, I hope you will find some peace about the time you were able to love and treasure your loved one. May God cradle you in his loving kindness until you are able to meet again someday.
* * *
pictures borrowed without permission from
CNN.com, www.september11news.com, and nccu.edu
