Saturday, September 10, 2011

REFLECTING ON A BAD WEEK AND A BAD DAY FROM TEN YEARS AGO

I'm not a big philosopher and I don't particularly spend much time dwelling on the past when it comes to anything because I figure what's done is done; but this week's airplane crash in Russia that wiped out an entire professional hockey team as well as this being the 10th anniversary (I don't like using that word because I always think of an anniversary as being a good thing) of the September 11th terrorist attacks, I can't help but be a bit reflective to ponder a few things.

My family has five people (myself, my wife, and three children) and each morning we say our good-byes and go our separate ways.  Each night, it's taken for granted when we all end up back in the same place we started our day.  Yet, that in itself is a pretty remarkable miracle.  It's one that hasn't been afforded to Kienan Hebert and his parents.  I can't possibly imagine the emotions they are going through.

I also can't help but wonder how some of the 43 people that died in the airplane crash earlier this week began their day.  Did they cherish the morning with their loved ones?  Did any of them end up seeing their spouse/parents/kids/friends for the last time without actually getting to say something that should've been said long ago, but was put off because there will always be 'another time'?  What about the loved ones left behind?  Did they maybe miss a chance to say something important and now won't ever be able to?  I shudder at the thought of being one of those people someday.  I hope it never comes to be.

I wonder if I had a relative die in the New York City incidents ten years ago if I would feel any better today than I did in 2001?  I'm betting I wouldn't.  Just because time passes, it doesn't mean you wish any less that your loved one is with you.  You just get more used to not having him/her/them.  When I see a total death figure of 2,726 people from the World Trade Center tragedy, it doesn't mean a whole lot.  What is 2,726?  It's just a number.  It's also the approximate population of Foam Lake and Wynyard put together.  Think about that.  Two Saskatchewan towns just wiped off the map.  Gone.

I remember being in Minneapolis one time and in the parking lot of the Mall Of America was a tractor trailer with a list of names of all people who had died as a result of September 11, 2001.  Putting names to these 2,726 had a significant impact on me.  Once you take a number and give it a name, you soon realize that number has a family that loved him/her.

The moral of these rambling paragraphs is that we should never take anything for granted.  We can all be taken from this world in a matter of a nano-second.  Now, it's probably silly to get sentimental every single morning when you kiss your family good-bye for the day; but I think the world would be a much better place if we all tried to make sure we don't go to bed angry.

A wise man once said 'Do what makes you happy.  The rest is just background noise.'  I don't know why, but that quote has stuck with me and I've thought about it a lot this week.  If you are not happy, then what are you?  Sometimes, I suppose, we need bad days to better understand what makes us happy.  I just wonder, as a society, are we smart enough to pay attention?

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