I think that there are certain things that happen in life, those tragic moments, that etch themselves in our minds forever. For me, the Challenger explosion, the O.J. Simpson chase, Princess Diana's death, and especially 9/11.
Eleven years ago, I was a new Mama to a beautiful baby girl. It was the day I was supposed to take her to Walmart for her 4 month pictures. Leah and I would spend our mornings downstairs in our apartment, watching the Today Show and sometimes talking to my Granny on the phone. That morning is one that was a morning of uncertainty.
I was watching the Today Show with Matt Lauer and Katie Couric and talking to my Granny on the phone after the first tower was struck by the plane. It was such an uncertain time. Nobody knew what was happening. Was it just an accident? Nobody seemed to know...until that 2nd plane hit. I remember the fear in my Granny's voice, the fear in my own mind, the fear on the faces of the news people. Terrifying.
Living in Berea, at the time, we were close to the Army Depot and we all decided it was best if Leah and I went to my mom's. It was such a scary time because nobody knew what was going to happen next. This terrorist attack hit and it felt like the whole world was filled with uncertainty and scary possibilities. Driving to Stanford, I remember glancing at the sky every chance I could, looking for air craft that might be heading our way. It was just a time that nobody could be fore sure what was happening next.
The footage of the towers collapsing was horrifying and heart breaking. The plane that went down in Pennsylvania was filled with such brave souls, and such heart breaking stories.
The days, weeks, and months after the 9/11 attacks were filled with personal accounts of loss and heroism.
Eleven years have gone by and I still find myself thinking about the confusion that the World Trade Center people must have felt. The fear that the people on the planes must have felt. I wonder what was going through their mind as they watched their plane heading for the World Trade Center. Were their thoughts on God? Were their thoughts about their families? Were their minds too filled with fear to even think about anything. I don't know. I don't want to ever find out what those few moments are like before a tragic end like that.
The people on the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania had a chance to call loved ones. They had a chance to pray. They were heroes. But as much as their heroics warm my heart, it also breaks my heart. Those people knew that they weren't going to make it out of that situation alive.
The people in the World Trade Center, those people who went to work, like every other day, I wonder what their morning was like that day. The usual hustle and bustle of getting kids off to school, fighting the traffic to get to work on time, meetings, appointments...the day-to-day aggravating stuff that everyone takes for granted. If only they'd of known what was in store for them, I am sure that they would have cherished every complaint from their child that morning, every beep of that alarm clock, every car that cut them off and made them curse. The first responders who arrived at the World Trade Center, just doing their jobs, helping people. The ones that didn't make it out...that lost their lives trying to SAVE others. I'm sure that, if they could, they'd tell us now that they were just doing their jobs, and they'd do it all over again if they had to. That's the kind of people that they are...
I guess we all need to live like that. Don't take things for granted, appreciate all that happens in our lives, even the aggravations, even the negatives. One day, for all of us, our end will come...we don't know the day, the hour, or the minute, but God does. We all need to get our lives right with God, we all need to prepare and be ready because one day, our lives will be over. I pray that our country never has another tragedy like the 9/11 attacks. The vulnerability and the uncertainty. The fear and the tears. Things that I pray our country never feels again.
So today, as always, I am HONORED to be an AMERICAN. I am PROUD of our MILITARY, past and present. I am HUMBLED by the people who lost their lives 11 years ago. Eleven years have passed...but I know that none of us have forgotten what happened that tragic day.
