In remembrance of Peter Hashem…Flight 11, Seat 20A…Struck the North Tower at 8:46:40 am EST.
This column is different for me, this one is a little more personal. Unlike my usual columns, this is to give perspective for not only myself, but maybe for you also. The only thing I can say to start is…. Life is precious, and when it ends for what ever the reason at any time, chances are you will not have any control of the timing or the circumstances. So live to the fullest everyday regardless of where you are in life, because the unexpected, and the horrific can also happen to you, not just someone else.
When the tragedy on 9/11 happened, it changed many of us, if not all. Like most, I remember exactly where I was. I remember also standing in line at my local bank moments after it happened, and watching the televisions while waiting in line in utter disbelief along with everyone else in the bank. For all of us…time had stopped.
The days and months that followed with the heroism and the outpouring of help and support is well documented else where. Living in New England at the time, you either had gone to Ground Zero yourself to try to offer any help, or someone you knew had. I owned a local Deli at the time. The owner of a company who supplied me with breads went back and forth to GZ to pass out muffins and pastries to the rescue teams at night only to come back up to New Hampshire and then start his deliveries. No one complained, no one said how hard it was to do, no one was looking for credit, it was just done….period! It’s just the way it was.
On that day many of us changed. We viewed life a little bit different. It suddenly hit you with laser like focus that life is precious, and death can come at any moment, from anywhere. No longer was this an esoteric exercise. This was life at its core, and it was playing out in front of our eyes leaving no gray area to ponder. You either got it…or you didn’t.
In honor of that tragic event, I myself set new rules, new guidelines how I was going to go forward in life. I decided I would live life my way, by my rules, and if I was to die today, so be it. I could say that because I was going ensure I was living, not just trying to exist or just get by like so many other do. That was not why we’re given life. It’s for us to live!
September 11, 2001 changed my life forever, but in honor of that tragic day, I decided to use it as a reminder that while on this Earth, I should live. Live everyday, take nothing for granted, take no one for granted, and live to chase today, the dreams of tomorrow. For if I do that one simple step, whether I reach those dreams or not…I will have Lived!
You see, Peter was not only someone who tragically died on that day…He was the younger brother of my close friends growing up. Life doesn’t just happen to someone else. It happens to us all.
Mark
