I have sat for the last two weeks in a daze of disbelief and sorrow. My country has been suffering terribly and her spirit has been wounded.
AS you all know I am American and I have lived in Wales for the past three years. Sure, I have gotten homesick, missing my family and friends and some of my favorite things like Mexican food. But I love my adopted country too.
However the events of Sept. 11 placed me in a situation I had never experienced. I was half a world away and my country had just suffered one of the most devastating events in her history, not to mention my lifetime. For the first time in my life, I felt truly alone and separated. Not only from my family and friends, but my fellow countrymen.
It is a most difficult of situations to find one’s self in. You don’t know where to turn. It is as though you have been cast adrift with no land in sight. I spent hours on the phone trying to reach loved ones and friends. I met with some success, but mostly failure.
I lost many friends that tragic Tuesday morning. But through all my pain and sorrow and feeling so very alone, I came to find that while I was away from my own country and her people, my adopted country and countrymen where coming together not only help me, but to assure the USA that all over the world do care.
The Welsh people in the community here where I live have taken me under their wings. I have been given love and support in ways I have never thought possible. Local media interviewed me shortly after the attacks. Since the broadcasts, total strangers on the street have come to me offering condolences, words of comfort and hugs. Tears have flowed from their eyes as freely as they have from mine.
My husband organized an impromptu candlelight vigil the Friday after the attack, which was attended by about 50 people, including the Lord Mayor of our town. The next week another vigil was held, and about 150 people attended. Clergy, a Member of Parliament, representatives of the police and fire departments, the Salvation Army band and a squadron of Sea Cadets who lined the walkway to the Cenotaph where the service was held attended this. And most strikingly, the American flag flew strong and proud next to the Cenotaph, erected to honor the fallen who so bravely gave their lives in service to this country
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