Tomorrow.....

Date 09-10-2014 14:26 Edited 09-10-2014 16:01

With tomorrow being the 13th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our country, I thought I’d post this poem. I found it to be especially meaningful since I have an 11 year old daughter....

A Little Girl's Poem

Her hair was up in a ponytail
Her favorite dress tied with a bow.
Today was Daddy's Day at school,
And she couldn't wait to go.

But her mommy tried to tell her,
That she probably should stay home.
Why the kids might not understand,
If she went to school alone.

But she was not afraid;
She knew just what to say.
What to tell her classmates
Of why he wasn't there today.

But still her mother worried,
For her to face this day alone.
And that was why once again,
She tried to keep her daughter home.

But the little girl went to school,
Eager to tell them all.
About a dad she never see
A dad who never calls.
There were daddies along the wall in back,
For everyone to meet.
Children squirming impatiently,
Anxious in their seats.

One by one the teacher called,
A student from the class.
To introduce their daddy,
As seconds slowly passed.

At last the teacher called her name,
Every child turned to stare.
Each of them was searching,
For a man who wasn't there.

"Where's her daddy at?"
She heard a boy call out.
"She probably doesn't have one,"
Another student dared to shout.

And from somewhere near the back,
She heard a daddy say,
"Looks like another deadbeat dad,
Too busy to waste his day."

The words did not offend her,
As she smiled up at her Mom.
And looked back at her teacher,
Who told her to go on.

And with hands behind her back,
Slowly she began to speak.
And out from the mouth of a child,
Came words incredibly unique.

"My Daddy couldn't be here,
Because he lives so far away.
But I know he wishes he could be,
Since this is such a special day.

And though you cannot meet him,
I wanted you to know.
All about my daddy,
And how much he loves me so.

He loved to tell me stories
He taught me to ride my bike.
He surprised me with pink roses,
And taught me to fly a kite.

We used to share fudge sundaes,
And ice cream in a cone.
And though you cannot see him,
I'm not standing here alone.

"Cause my daddy's always with me,
Even though we are apart
I know because he told me,
He'll forever be in my heart"

With that, her little hand reached up,
And lay across her chest.
Feeling her own heartbeat,
Beneath her favorite dress.

And from somewhere in the crowd of dads,
Her mother stood in tears.
Proudly watching her daughter,
Who was wise beyond her years.

For she stood up for the love
Of a man not in her life.
Doing what was best for her,
Doing what was right.

And when she dropped her hand back down,
Staring straight into the crowd.
She finished with a voice so soft,
But its message clear and loud..

"I love my daddy very much,
He's my shining star.
And if he could, he'd be here,
But heaven's just too far.

You see he was a fireman
And died just this past year
When airplanes hit the towers
And taught Americans to fear.

But sometimes when I close my eyes,
It's like he never went away.
And then she closed her eyes,
And saw him there that day.

And to her mother's amazement,
She witnessed with surprise.
A room full of daddies and children,
All starting to close their eyes.

Who knows what they saw before them,
Who knows what they felt inside.
Perhaps for merely a second,
They saw him at her side.

"I know you're with me Daddy,"
To the silence she called out.
And what happened next made believers,
Of those once filled with doubt.

Not one in that room could explain it,
For each of their eyes had been closed.
But there on the desk beside her,
Was a fragrant long-stemmed pink rose.

And a child was blessed, if only for a moment,
By the love of her shining bright star.
And given the gift of believing,
That heaven is never too far.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them. To those who lost their lives on that day: Love is longer than death. Memory is deeper than anguish. You have been our strength and our past. We will be your future. To those still with us, please take some time away from life's hectic pace to live and love, because it could be gone in an instant. May God bless you all.

Edit: paragraph spacing corrected

By Milton Gravitt (***)

Date 09-10-2014 15:02

Amen. Very touching Scott. This gets close to you.

M.G.

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 09-10-2014 18:15

What a Beautiful poem! Thanks for sharing that SCOTT...

13 years later and the thoughts of what happened that day still hurts like hell... It feels like 100 punches in the gut if I take too much time to think about all of my friends who died that day... One person in particular was William Herlihy who was a Fireman and one of my best friends since the second grade... He was the best handball player I knew and would always end up in the championship match @ the local city park where we used to play... My Mom remembers him because he always asked for seconds when he would stay over for dinner... He would give you the shirt off his back and backed you up if there was any trouble starting to brew...

Billy was a stand up friend who was always selfless in helping others and he made me a better man from what I saw in him... He had a wife and two sons and I try to keep in touch, but sometimes it's hard to because she's moved on in her life with another man and the boys are so busy with their new lives... Sometimes I think they forgot I am "Uncle Hank" because when I do get in touch, they hardly recognize my voice, they seem very distant in their mannerisms over the phone.. Maybe I'm reading way too much into this but, it's like I lost a family of friends from the terrorist attack that day which will sadden me and yet, will bring back wonderful memories of the past... Like when out of nowhere one day while we were playing handball, Billy would hit me in the side of my head with the ball as I was mesmerized by this girl strolling by through the fence on the sidewalk and almost instantly brought me back to reality by his shouting "Get it together Cassanova! Concentrate on the game dude! The next time I'll aim for your jewels!" And the day his first son was born, how proud a father he was passing out cigars to everyone he knew with a smile from ear to ear... I lost some more friends that were Police Officers who never in a million years would anyone who knew them, think that they could become cops based on the way they behaved when we were growing up...
R.I.P. Brad, Jorge, Joe and Tony... This is why it still hurts so much!

There are so many beautiful memories I have of my brother from another mother, William Herlihy that I will cherish until the day I die... R.I.P. My Brother Billy.

Then there was my friend Ricky who dived through a plate glass window just to escape the debris of one of the buildings collapsing where he was and ended up without a scratch... His little brother Chris who was working on the opposite side of a smaller building which had debris collapse on top of it, also escaping unhurt and how they described how they couldn't see in front of their faces when the debris started raining down on them... They came over to East Brady, PA where I live these days to visit in the summer last year, and we sat around reminiscing about what happened that day... To hear from them what they personally went through, and how they and thousands more had to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge in order to catch a subway to get back to their homes gave me goosebumps... Those guys make me a rich man by having friends like them!

There was also tremendous relief shortly after that day when I found out that my Sister was alive because that day she had to work uptown instead of the South Tower where she normally worked, and she was so selfless to hurry down to as close to ground zero as she could possibly get to and volunteer for the Red Cross to help out with the rescue effort which sadly turned into a recovery operation shortly afterwards... she stayed there for two weeks straight handing out coffee & hot meals to the Firemen, Cops, Army National Guardsmen, Air Force, Marines, and some Sailors who were demolition specialists doing the opposite of what they were trained to do and many of the wonderful rescue workers who were mostly construction workers who traveled from all over the country to see if they could help out... I have a hardhat that she wore during those dark days which I cherish and dust off every September 10th in memory to all of the Americans who came together as one nation and to show the terrorists that they cannot break us! Unless, we all forget and don't bother to preserve and pass on the legacy of that day...

Because of what happened that day in New York, The Pentagon, over the skies in Shanksville, PA the country, united as one people determined to get through the Catastrophe they witnessed on that cloudless sunny day in early September on September 11th, 2001... On that day, the country no longer had any partisan bickering, no Republicans, no Democrats, no polarization, no rich or poor and no divisiveness that we see and listen to everyday it seems... This country truly behaved like The United States of America as it should everyday! That behavior is what's missing in this wonderful country I call home... And it shouldn't take a disaster of monumental proportions to unite us as one nation under God! What ever happened to indivisible with liberty and justice for all? The fact that we as a nation are so divided makes me wonder who really understands what pledging allegiance to the flag means! We must not regress back to the status quo of divisiveness as in the past!

Indivisible? As long as we stay divided as a people, the terrorists win... As long as liberty is denied to many, the terrorists win... And as long as there is more than one standard of justice in this great nation of ours, the terrorists win! We cannot continue down this path to oblivion! We all need to always remember that we are all Americans no matter what our origins are... Regardless of what class we are designated by our material wealth... Regardless of the religions we practice either! Because that is the beauty of the USA!

For the longest time this country portrayed a sense of pride because of our diversity as a nation where anyone regardless of their origins could become successful from where they were once struggling to survive instead of morphing into a country of haves and have nots, and blindly pointing their fingers at any demographic that doesn't pull their own weight, or has it too good, or are a burden to the rest of us... Instead of rallying together like we did for a short period of time from that fateful day!

That day was a lesson for all of us to remember and to emulate in our daily lives and to practice in all of our affairs... And it would be a sad day indeed if after all we have gone through - fighting the many wars (not just Afganistan and Iraq) that we have done, losing many of our loved ones, or coming back both physically and mentally scarred for life as a result, or going through financial crises, natural disasters, school shootings, and other traumatic experiences for us to remain as a divided nation so polarized that I wonder if could we actually reverse our course to again sailing the calm seas that made our nation the envy of the world without having another September 11th...

Please remember the Pledge of Allegiance, and what it really stands for and being indivisible with liberty and justice for ALL! After all we're not just pledging allegiance to the flag... We're also pledging allegiance to the Republic and a way of life for which it stands... Think about it...

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

That little girl would be saddened to grow up and realize that she lost her Daddy who fought and died for preserving the ideals in the pledge that are no longer taken seriously.
UNITED WE STAND - DIVIDED WE FALL.

Edit: Sorry about that... I guess I got a bit carried away but, I still stand by what I wrote and yet, I didn't want to hurt anyone's feeling when I did, so if I did I apologize.

Respectfully,
Henry

By 46.00

Date 09-14-2014 06:20

Respect Henry!

By welderbrent (*****)

Date 09-10-2014 18:29

Truly great Scott.

You too Henry.

Thanks for sharing guys.

He Is In Control, Have a Great Day, Brent

By SCOTTN

Date 09-10-2014 18:58

I don't mean to take anything away from the original post, but Henry mentioned the pledge of allegiance and I thought this was appropriate.....

From the Red Skelton Hour January 14, 1969:

As a schoolboy, one of Red Skelton's teachers explained the words and meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Skelton later wrote down, and eventually recorded, his recollection of this lecture. It is followed by an interesting observation of his own.

I remember this one teacher. To me, he was the greatest teacher, a real sage of my time. He had such wisdom. We were all reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and he walked over. Mr. Lasswell was his name . . . He said: "I've been listening to you boys and girls recite the Pledge of Allegiance all semester and it seems as though it is becoming monotonous to you. If I may, may I recite it and try to explain the meaning of each word:

________________________________________

I - - Me; an individual; a committee of one.

Pledge - - Dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.

Allegiance - - My love and my devotion.

To the Flag - - Our standard; Old Glory; a symbol of Freedom; wherever she waves there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, Freedom is everybody's job.

United - - That means that we have all come together.

States - - Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. All divided with imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common purpose, and that is love for country.

And to the Republic - - Republic - a state in which sovereign power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people; and it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.

For which it stands

One Nation - - One Nation - meaning, so blessed by God.

Indivisible - - Incapable of being divided.

With Liberty - - Which is Freedom; the right of power to live one's own life, without threats, fear, or some sort of retaliation.

And Justice - - The principle, or qualities, of dealing fairly with others.

For All - - For All - which means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine.

________________________________________

And now, boys and girls, let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance:

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

________________________________________

Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: "Under God". Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer, and that would be eliminated from schools, too?

Red Skelton

By Milton Gravitt (***)

Date 09-10-2014 19:45

I think I know where all the good people are now.

Milton Gravitt

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 09-21-2014 06:38

God Bless you and Yours Scott!

By 46.00

Date 09-23-2014 01:19

I have lived in this country for nearly 5 years now and despite its faults, I appreciate it more and more every day!

By SCOTTN

Date 09-23-2014 15:54

Despite our faults, isn't America wonderful? You can get married and have children at age 16, join the army and kill people at age 18, but you need to be 21 in order to buy beer because you aren't otherwise considered emotionally mature until that age. We sterilize the needles that we use to administer the lethal injection. We spend more on defense than we spend on education or health. None of that makes much sense to me. To help put things in their proper perspective, consider this…. Pythagoras' theorem: 24 words. The Lord's Prayer: 66 words. Archimedes’ Principle: 67 words. The 10 Commandments: 179 words. The Gettysburg address: 286 words. The Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words. U.S. Government regulations on cabbage sales: 26,911 words. Since cabbage is considered a healthy choice, that last one might be well worth the time and effort, regardless that some people’s idea of a healthy choice is a diet coke, and that’s another problem. A recent survey of males in this country found that 42% were overweight and 34% were critically obese. The other 8% got hungry while filling out the survey, and ate it. Guys: chasing the American dream doesn’t count as exercise. The females aren’t fairing much better. If they don’t get their weight problem under control, the best way to pick up a woman is soon going to be with a crane, and please, ladies, stop using the “I’m eating for two” line, especially when you’re not pregnant. It’s obvious why we don’t have more female violin players in this country. They can’t figure out which chin to put it under. I may seem a bit harsh with those statements, because despite the common misconception, only 45% of us are classified as overweight. The other 55% of us are just obese. It's ok to chase the American dream, but chasing it doesn't count as exercise. Just look at the facts. 2% of all newlyweds in this country met on eHarmony. The other 98% met at McDonald's. A balanced diet doesn’t mean that every McNugget weighs the same. It’s no wonder that one in three of us weigh as much as the other two put together. And only in America can a state be named after bucket of fried chicken.