Eight Years Already?

Friday dawned damp, dingy and cold – a holdover from the previous day that had brought even more rain and higher winds to Bridgewater. It was one of those days that I would have liked to have stayed cozily inside: But there were two things that I wanted to do: some laps at the JCC pool on Talamini Road and, after that, a noontime stop in front of the old Bridgewater Township Administration building for the 9/11 remembrance ceremony.

I wouldn’t have time to go back home and dress up after the swim, so I just showed up in jeans and a rain slicker for the ceremony, leaving my camera behind (too rainy and wet). A shuttle bus was waiting to move participants from the parking lot in front of the courthouse building, but I parked the car nearby, popped open a big black storm-ready umbrella, and walked along the edge of Commons Way towards two tents set up as a shelter on the lawn facing Garretson Road.

It was pouring, but the tents did their job well keeping dignitaries, workers and citizens dry. The ceremony was brief but more than adequate. Police and firefighters from Bridgewater were present. Bridgewater Mayor Patricia Flannery spoke a few words in honor of the victims of 9/11, as well as in remembrance of other local Americans who have since lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Two Bridgewater police officers reverently carried a folded American flag out from under the tent and raised it on the Township flagpole under a heavy, wet sky. Firefighter Howard Norgalis had already read the firemen’s pledge; Pastor Todd Buurstra of the North Branch Reformed Church had previously given the opening invocation.

The wind blew persistently as the ceremony continued under dark, angry skies but, as if providentially, the sky brightened momentarily and the rain let up slightly – perhaps a sign of hope for the future – as Mayor Flannery stepped out from under the tent’s roof and was assisted in placing a wreath upon the 9/11 memorial stone and plaque resting on the lawn.

Although 9/11 was eight years ago, its memory is still vivid in the minds of Americans, especially in this area, even more so with those loved ones who have been directly affected. As if to underscore the tragedy of that villainous day, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to produce far too many fresh memories of brave American men and women who continue to give up their youthful lives in the aftermath of that tragic day eight years ago.