09/01/2026
They Were Coming Home
Rabbi Moshe P. Weisblum
They left that morning under ordinary skies,
A hurried kiss, a wave, the smallest of goodbyes.
“See you tonight,” they called, then walked away,
Not knowing night would never come that day.
Then from the smoke, the final phone calls came,
A trembling voice, a whispered loved one’s name.
No word of anger, wealth, or what was due,
Just one last breath that said, “I love you.”
A child stood listening each time the front door stirred,
Still waiting for the footsteps once so often heard.
A coat stayed hanging where it used to be,
An empty chair beside the family.
And some ran upward while the world ran down,
Through choking smoke and darkness all around.
For strangers whose names they would never know,
They climbed toward heaven while we watched below.
So when September brings that blue sky into view,
Remember they had plans that evening too.
They were not numbers chiseled into stone,
They were somebody’s whole world, somebody’s own,
They were coming home that night. They were coming home.
