What Would You Do?

Thirteen years after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, the anniversary comes and goes and it never gets any easier.  I shared something with my friends on Facebook yesterday morning and realized later that I should’ve shared it here, too.  It all started with a link to a video that I spotted earlier on Twitter.  Here is what I wrote about it:

On this #Sept11, as you stop to Remember and #NeverForget – set aside some time to watch this powerful and very moving video. It’s about Boston College grad Welles Crowther who worked at the World Trade Center but felt his real calling was to be a fireman. I tell you, there will not be a dry eye among anyone who watches it – it’s an amazing piece of video storytelling. And it begins, rather poignantly, with this question, “What would you do in the last hour of your life….” – How would you answer it? #NEVERForget

There are so MANY stories, and having worked in the newsroom back then it seemed there was always another, and another and another. I spotted this on Twitter this morning (Tweet from SportsCenter) and watched. Can honestly say that I think it was the first time I had learned of Welles’ story. And the piece itself is remarkable. I have a book that was published in 2002, titled “September 11: An Oral History” and it sits right here near my computer. It is a series of essays, voices really and at least one of them haunting, from various people who were on the frontlines of the terrorist attacks: the firefighters, the window washer, the people who were just going to work. For me, at least, it is all of these stories together that provide a fuller picture of that day.

The tagline of my blog is “Proof that everything has a story.”  So many people were affected in one way or another by the 9/11 attacks in the United States that sometimes I think there will always be another story, and another… ad infinitum. I watched that video several times yesterday, and my eyes teared up each time.

How would YOU answer the question: “What would you do in the last hour of your life?”  And if we ALL asked that question of ourselves…could we hope to make it a better world?! I’d love to hear your thoughts…

*It is worth noting that Boston College will be honoring Welles on Saturday 9/13/14 when their football team plays USC on ESPN in the U.S. – everyone will be wearing red bandanas http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/colleges/post/_/id/5514/bc-honors-911-hero-welles-crowther