9/11

Ok, I know I'm a day late on this but I was pretty busy yesterday & when I finally got time to sit down & blog, I started falling asleep in the chair so I just headed to bed instead. Hehe, that rhymes. Anyway, I know there was lots of coverage over yesterday's anniversery so I'm not going to blab on about it. I just cannot believe it has been 7 years! Every other year has passed & I haven't thought much about it but this year seems different. I don't know why. To most of us this was a day that changed the way we think in a small way. Words were instantly added to every day language that either didn't exist before or just weren't used that much. "Terrorism," "Islamic extreamist," etc.

A lot of children, 10 years & younger, don't really remember or know the world before 9/11. They probably wonder why we make such a big deal about it. I imagine this is how a lot of people felt after Pearl Harbor. The people who remember prior to these attacks are more fearful than those born after or who don't remember life before because this is the world they have grown up in, they don't know any differently.

So, where was I when the attack happened?

I was getting ready for class (x-ray school). Dad was sick so he was in the kitchen watching the news. All of a sudden they started showing the first plane flying into the tower. I instantly thought & said, "Some air traffic controler is going to be in a lot of trouble." Then I went back to ironing my clothes or whatever. (It all seems very callous, now.)

Then, as I was about to leave, I saw the second plane. Then I got kind of angry. "Why don't they get that guy (aka, the air traffic controller who was screwing up) away from the desk!" (Man, I'm an idiot.)

I got in the car & the radio was saying, "terrorists!" I rolled my eyes & said to myself, "Of course, they always blame terrorists."

During the last 2 or 3 min of my 45 min commute, the other plane hit the Pentagon. Now, this changed everything. For a moment I believe my mind went catatonic. Then, I thought, "Well, maybe it is terrorists." But I just couldn't believe that. I mean, come on, terrorists couldn't attack America 3 times (later to be revealed at least 4). They would have been caught long before ever boarding the planes. We are the safest country in the world, right?

For the next few weeks, we couldn't get enough. We watched everything we could about it on TV. Read everything about it in papers & on the internet. Listened to the radio constantly when there wasn't a TV or computer around. Going back to regular programinig on TV was the oddest thing. I think most of the shows were very nervous about it also. For a short time, America turned back to Christianity & cried out to God but that was short lived, unfortunately.

I really don't know what else to say about it. It was a terrible thing to happen but such wonderful stories of heroism, hope, love for one another, patriotism, the feeling that American's felt like a family instead of complete strangers living on the same mass of land. I pray that all those who lost loved ones will remember their time with them & not the horrific events surrounding their death & that they will look to the future with hope & love and not dwell on the past with anger & sorrow.