“Where were you on nine-eleven?”

…everyone kept asking me today.
Ten years ago today I was sitting on the couch watching home alone with some of my siblings. I remember my dad coming out of his corner office in a rush and rushing over to turn the film off. he than yelled for my mother as he messed with the cables around the TV. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what until the images flashed on the screen in a haze, the images of the trade towers being engulfed by flames. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing or hearing, and even as a young girl, my heart went out to all those involved as I sat feeling so small and helpless.
Today in church Martin and I had the chance to sing together. we sang the song “Because he lives.” and as we sang together I began thinking about the significance of the day and the words we were singing, and i reached for martins hand as we finished the song. Later, someone asked what would have been our first thoughts if we had been on the 109th floor. Mine was,”Not yet. I’m not ready. I haven’t seen Ellie go to school yet, or helped Sophie walk. and what about the other children we want to have? or how could I leave Martin like this, without saying goodbye?
To think those thoughts brought emotions to the surface. I want to remember that day if only to feel of the unity we all experienced immediately afterward. All the flags flying everywhere,. The kindness of strangers. The spirit of perseverance. I didn’t take this picture, I found it via my pinterest, but I love that it conveys the idea that even though the rubble is cleared, we can look back and always remember. We must never forget.

This country has been through a lot. We fight amongst ourselves, have been attacked, had so many wars big and small, but in the end, we always come out just fine. Maybe not as good as we were before, but OK. It is my belief that God has fortified this land, and that it is a land of promise. It’s a land of free men and women who live as they see fit. Who can exercise any belief they feel to be just and true. I can’t help but see the state that our country is in today and feel a loss of hope that it can ever be what it used to be in history books, but maybe if people can remember… I hope we can gain strength from our past victories, and never forget lessons learned from tragedies. I’ll be trying to teach Ellie the Pledge Of Allegiance today as our family sings it together, and I hope you will at least think of the words sometime today.
Sorry to go on like that. amazing how those few words can get your mind working, and fingers typing:)
“Where were YOU on 9/11/01?”