🕊️ Ashes in the Morning Light: A Reflection on September 11.

I awoke that morning, the usual-routine type of morning

Languidly stretching, smile - yawn...expect another glorious day

Bath...dressed...eat a light breakfast...off to work I shall go

Turn on the news...the reporter saying words to which I was not really listening

Outside...fully prepared to walk the few steps to the bus stop...This was Brooklyn, NY. It's bus or train, not the car, your heart and nerves will thank you. Traffic is back to back.

But...

Cars were covered in ashes...what on earth...from the sky...even thicker ash was falling.

I could hardly breathe.

I ran back inside...the TV, really listening this time.

Respectfully...I acknowledge the gravity of this topic. The events of September 11, 2001 were deeply traumatic...with far-reaching consequences. I’ll approach this with care and respect, imagining the voice of a reporter witnessing the unfolding tragedy in real time.

The reporter looked panicked.

Live Report – Morning of September 11, 2001

Time: 9:03 AM EST

Location: Lower Manhattan, New York City

"This is...reporting live from downtown Manhattan. What began as a clear, quiet morning has turned into a scene of unimaginable horror. Moments ago, at approximately 8:46 AM, a commercial airliner crashed directly into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Smoke is billowing from the upper floors, and emergency crews are rushing to the scene. People are flooding the streets in disbelief, many in tears, others simply frozen.

And now - oh my God - another plane has just struck the South Tower. It’s 9:03 AM. This is no accident. We are witnessing what appears to be a coordinated attack. The second impact was lower than the first, and the explosion was massive. Debris is raining down. The towers are engulfed in flames

The air is thick with smoke and sirens. Cell service is failing. People are trying to reach loved ones. There’s panic, confusion, and a growing sense of dread. We don’t yet know who is responsible or how many lives have been lost. But this morning, the skyline of New York has changed forever.

Stay with us. We will continue to bring updates as this tragic story unfolds".

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I was an entire city away from Manhattan.

September 11, 2001, began like any other - blue skies over Manhattan, commuters hurried through turnstiles, coffee steamed in cups, and the towers stood tall, indifferent to the rhythm of daily life below

Then everything changed. In the days that followed, grief became a shared language.

But amid the sorrow, something else emerged: a fierce tenderness. The smoke that rose from Ground Zero carried not only loss, but also the fragile threads of unity.

We reflect not to relive the horror, but to remember the humanity. To honor those who were taken. To bear strength with those who remained. To ask: how do we build a world where such violence is unthinkable?

The skyline has changed. The scars remain. So does the light...filtered through grief, refracted by hope, and held in the hearts of those who refuse to forget.

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