TWO CHOICES! Ahh, the frivolous things we let upset us everyday – someone cuts us off on the freeway; we get all the way home and discover the fries are not in the bag; we have a bad hair day; and the list goes on. For some of us it’s gotten so we expect things to always go our way, and we don’t want to be inconvenienced in the least. Nowadays, one can only wonder how a society that has so much, be so discontented? Could it be we have too many choices like the poor little rich kid who has everything? What a pity. I remember as a child getting bored with building blocks and finding new ways to tear down what I’d built up. But we’re not kids! We’re intelligent, hard-working, mature adults! Or are we? The fifth anniversary of the September 11th tragedy is approaching, and I often ponder an aspect of that event that most people don’t. Remember the images of those who jumped to their deaths after the planes crashed into the Twin Towers? Their lives were reduced to only two choices in the blink of an eye – stay trapped in that hellish doomed building, or jump – either way, to face certain death. On September 11th, how will we choose to honor those who voluntarily and involuntarily lost their lives? Will it be just another day where we go our own little “bratty” self-centered way – thinking the world revolves around us; that things have to go our way, or else!? Or will we really be grateful that we have a menu of options and choices from which to choose? The choice is ours in how we choose to honor, and our actions will show it. Two Choices! (A Poem by Larry Buford) I heard the roaring of the plane so close I held my breath then an explosive crash announced the arrival of death. The tremendous boom, the crunch, the grind drowned out my desperate scream great fireballs, heat so intense I prayed it was a dream. Fear took control - what shall I do perish in flames or flee I paced and cried, I cried and paced time running out on me. No where to run, no where to hide so far above the ground my last wish for my loved ones was that my remains be found. I jumped into Eternity Hell blazing at my heels I pleaded, God have mercy… knowing my fate was sealed. In memory of those who jumped to their deaths from the doomed World Trade Center towers on 9/11/01 ~Larry Buford, freelance writer residing in Los Angeles EditorialByLarry.com Back