09/11/01 – 8:46AM.

09/11/01 – 9:02AM.

Everyone of age remembers where they were and what they were doing “when the world stopped turning on THAT September day.”  (cue Alan Jackson and Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning).  And today, as we mark the 15th anniversary of 09/11/01, it’s important to focus on some of the numbers that came out of that tragedy.  Some numbers you might be familiar with:

343 dead firefighters. . . 23 dead NYPD. . . 37 NY Port Authority employees. . .2350 first responders and other precious souls from all walks of life.

But other numbers, might be surprising:

those fires continued to burn for 99 days (imagine living with that daily smell and memory. . .)

number of 9/11 related funerals attended by [then] NYC Mayor Guiliani – 200 (do you think you will reach that number in your lifetime?)

estimated number of children that lost a parent= 3,051

estimated number of New Yorkers suffering from PTSD as a result of 9/11= over 420,000

There are, of course, so many more stats from that day – that one single historical event –  that are jaw dropping and mind numbing.  And to be honest, I don’t personally tend to think much about numbers except maybe when I’m at the grocery store (“they want how much for this loaf of bread?”), or booking vacation travel (should ‘fun’ really cost this much?), or when it’s time to file the annual income tax (no words, just no words at all. . .).  All trivial numbers by comparison to the focus of this blog post.

But today as we all pause in our own personal ways to remember ‘THAT’ day and how it changed our lives, I thought I’d just share some of those other numbers.  Especially after I read the article by Alison Bowen on page three of today’s Sentinel, 9/11 attacks still taking deadly toll” , because it was such a sad reminder about the impact of numbers even years after an event.  Here’s one from that article that really stuck with me:

-about 65,000 people, mostly first responders that came from all over the country, are currently in the WTC Health Program set up by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health as a result of the attacks suffered on 9/11/01-

And as we reflect on any of the above numbers connected with this tragedy, let’s also not forget this one:

19 hijackers (that weren’t man enough to fight one on one) did all this, and more.

Peace to all those who read this and remember.

** photos courtesy of Millennium Westshore**