Bin Laden is Dead

I like the symmetry.
This morning, I heard Osama Bin Laden is dead.
Almost 10 years ago, at about the same time of day, I heard about the first airliner hitting the World Trade tower. As I continued to dress for an important meeting, the second airliner hit. And the startled newsman said, "What is this?"
On the road, I heard about the third plane hitting the Pentagon.
"What is this?" I screamed in my car.
As a news junkie, I had probably heard his name before. It didn't register. The day after, I heard Osama bin Laden made this happen. He attacked innocent people in my country.
That attack changed many lives forever. I know of one who joined the military, one who joined the paramedics, another who became a minister. All because of one event.
At the time, I was working for Child Protective Services in Texas.
I knew what caseworkers in New York were going through, and their story was never told that I know of.
In Texas, it was the Branch Davidian coumpound with American David Koresh near Waco, Texas,1993.. There were children in that compound.
If I remember correctly, 37. The Feds attacked it, and the inhabitants put the children under the floor, and then set it afire. And they burned.
CPS workers from throughout the state had been called in and assigned to those children. They knew their names, their ages, in some cases personal information.Yeah, it is a beaureaucracy, but you know? When the kid is assigned, you stand for them. Even if you have never met them. And I guess you could say, David Koresh paid for that.
And we all watched while they burned to death.
I was a newbie in CPS, but I had colleagues who had been called to handle the children. They were devastated. I guess folks expect beureaucrats to have no feelings. Well, we do.That was my second year in the agency.
So when the towers collapsed, I knew there were a lot of people just like me scrambling to find the kids who wouldn't have one or more parents coming home and would need care in a city of total disorganization.

The same ocurred in Okalhoma. Another home-grown terrorist. A trial. Closure.

In New York, almost 10 years later, we finally have closure. And the pain wells up again, a bit. I still feel lighter. I've heard others say this.

And it is justice. It really is.
And I honor those who did it, right up to the President.
I'm glad he's dead.
A chapter closes. And a new chapter continues.