September 11, 2001
By Cathy Kennedy Gonzalez

I was in line at McDonalds
Kennedy was with me
I couldn’t imagine the commotion
As I stared at the television screen

I questioned the clerk
Is that a training video?
You are all so absorbed
She replied no, a plane
Has hit the World Trade Center

Wow, there is another plane
Look, it hit again
The second tower is hit
I gasped in disbelief
But also sighed with relief

I had my link to life
Sitting beside me
Close at my side,
The one who gives me life

I continued to my destination
Only thinking I must be
Dreaming, for what I saw
Could never be, it must be just my
IMAGINATION

I reached his school,
I hugged him closely
And left him hesitantly
And continued on my drive

As I drove to work,
I listened to the radios
I looked in the sky
And I felt an over whelming
Sense of loss

I began to cry
As the tears flowed freely
I realized I wasn’t crying
Because of the disaster

I was crying because
My grief is still alive
Although my son Jason is not alive
I was crying for what I had lost

I almost felt selfish
I felt I lost him all over again
The pain was fresh
And all of my thoughts didn’t mesh

I arrived at work
The television was on
People were crying
Shaking their heads in disbelief

Then the word came
Leave the building
Go home, go home
The same way you came

I rushed to my car
Although not far
I drove 25 miles
Which seemed like the length of the Nile

I cried again
I looked into the sky
I saw my Jason’s eyes
Looking down at me

He whispered to me
Mom look up at me
For I am protecting you and Kennedy
Don’t fear for now, because I am near

And I will guide you
I will protect you
I will love you
I will be with you forever

 

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