Remembering 7/7 - Eleven years on

Is it really eleven years since the awful atrocity that robbed so many of our fellow citizens of that precious gift called life?

I vividly remember the day. I had a business appointment at Debenhams in Oxford St at 9am. I remember the chaos at City Thameslink as the tube network was shut down. I had intended to get a tube to Oxford Circus on the Victoria Line. So I made my way up and boarded a no 38 bus. This got no further than 100 yards when a police officer boarded and told the driver to get everyone off the bus. 

I then walked down the Euston Road towards Tottenham Court Road. At Russell St, I saw an odd sight. An oriental chap was covered in debris and was staggering around. I assumed he'd been to a good party. There was no phone signal, at this stage I had no clue what was happening. All I knew was that I was late.

Then when I got to Tottenham Court Road. I saw a group of people clustered around a telly in a shop window. That was when it became clear. I adjourned to a cafe for a cup of tea.

The radio in the cafe gave tell of the horror. When I arrived at Debenhams, the people I was seeing were not in. So I made my way home. I went via Selfridges and bought my wife a present. I was the only shopper. It was surreal. I then walked up to Finchley Road, as there were no tubes or buses. 

I eventually got a no 13 Routemaster to Golders Green and a 240 home. Only then did the true horror sink in. On the new we had Mrs Fatayi-Williams emotional plea for peace in memory of her son. She attends the same church as myself. I found a friends sister was in intensive care. She lost her legs.

And eleven years later what did those sad, deluded men achieve? Only grief and misery. What sort of parting gift to the world is that? If you are Religious, please pray for peace today. If you are not, please put peace in your thoughts. 

Let's all work together for a better world.