Remembering my terrorist attack

This past week has been spiritually draining and emotionally tumultuous.

It’s bittersweet irony that today is the anniversary of the attacks on the twin towers.  September 9th would have been the one year anniversary of my marriage to a “suspected terrorist.”  Instead of celebrating a wedding anniversary I spent the day being filmed by a documentary crew.  They were capturing my story for a film about inter-cultural relationships that go wrong.  In my case, terribly wrong.

Thursday at 11 a.m. the crew arrived; as they unloaded and set up their video gear, I silently acknowledged it was going to be a challenging ordeal.  It never dawned on me that we had scheduled a shoot on September 9th, the same day I had set for my wedding a mere 18 months earlier.  Thankfully that wedding never took place.  Sadly, the reason was the topic of said documentary.

Lest we forget… May 28th, 2009 is a day I will never forget.

That’s the day I almost lost my life.  The day I lost my love.  The day I lost faith in my judgement.

It was also the day I started fresh.  The day I took control.  The day I found my strength and moved forward.

I won’t go into details.  You’ll have to wait for the documentary to hear the full story, but I will say that I am grateful to be alive.

I’m grateful for family and friends.  I’m grateful for the opportunity to share my experiences.  I’m grateful for today!

Sure, horrible, unspeakable, horrific things happened on September 11th!

Just as horrible, unspeakable, horrific things happened to me on May 28th, 2009… But, I choose to focus on the new day before me.  I choose to be thankful for my life and my loved ones.  What comfort can it bring to cling to nightmare memories.  I can still see the Twin Towers falling before my eyes just as vividly as I can see my own tragic attack at a terrorists hands.  I’m glad my story has been captured and now it no longer requires me to share in it’s telling.  I’m free to wipe that ugliness from my past and free to step into an exciting new future.

I hope everyone can understand how powerful that can be.   If each of us found a way to turn the events of September 11th into a day we celebrate our lives and future it would bring a lot more harmony to the world than the actions of those who chose to burn holy books and protest the freedoms and beliefs of others.