On this day, I always remember the sight of a group of New York Firemen walking down Broadway or Church or West Street in New York City, they glanced up at the burning towers and yet the marched on. I remember watching that news clip and it still affects me . I saw the same clip on a new documentary the other night.
We know the result.
I worked within sight of the towers, safely on the Jersey side. I was educated in night school 10 short blocks north of the old WTC location, I would sometimes come through on the train and walk up. More often I would drive in on the New Jersey Turnpike spur to the Holland Tunnel . In the late fall , in the crisp autumn air the light would shift and the view from the top of the turnpike would reveal the towers and the Statue of Liberty in their most beautiful way. I would be awestruck. When I graduated my wife gave me a photo that to this day hangs on my office wall. She selected it based on my description of the view. The photo is good, but it can't quite capture that particular beauty.
Today, I do not so much want to mourn those who died that day as I want to pray for them and to particularly pray for the burly men amongst us. I do this because we who are of the type, know that there are those who say we no longer matter. They would have you believe that we are old school and out of touch and not needed in the modern scheme of things. That strength of back and arms and legs and character no longer matter for the ability to crunch a number or sway a crowd with oratory are all that matters today. But I say you do matter, oh yes you do.
There are burly men in our midst, the men with sinewy arms and broad shoulders and hearts as tender as a child. The get their hair cut in a shop, not a salon, they shave with blades, they know how do do things. they come in all sizes, some big some small. Collars on their necks are usually unbuttoned. They build, they provide, they protect, they teach, they coach, they love. Despite what some would have you believe they have relevance and they are worthy of respect. Nowadays, when I see a burly man I say a prayer of thanks. I recognize them easily, it is as if we have a code.
I know he will be there to do the right thing, when the time is at hand. When the lights go out, when the storm winds blow, when there is someone in need they will show up. Would it all be that we could be the burly man. There is more to it than the physical, there is a knowing sense of what is right and what needs to be done to make things right.No boast, no pride, no arrogance.
When we are told to "Man Up", this is the way we are told to be.
