I will always remember...

I am the kind of person who is very forgetful. I makes to do lists and live and die by my Outlook calendar to know what's going on that day/week. However, there are some days that are etched so well in my memory it seems like it was just yesterday. One of those days is today. Twelve years ago I was a high school senior in calculus class when someone came and knocked on the back door and announced that we should come to the multi-purpose room because they had the tv on and that a plane had hit one of the towers. (Yes back then we didn't have a tv in every room.) It is hard to describe the emotions that ran through me when I heard this, I was shocked first and foremost, scared about what else could happen, worried and sad for my friends who had family in that building, and confused as to why someone would do something like this.

We watched and were in amazement at what we were seeing. All my life to that point I had never experienced anything like this. I knew wars went on, but never anything on US soil, never anything that made me feel like I wasn't safe. I was so naïve and this was the beginning of the end to that. I will never forget that  day and the lives that were lost.

Today my thoughts are with the family members of all those who died that day, either in the attack or during the rescue operations. Its amazing how we could all come together as a country and see people rise to the occasion to help complete strangers. We need to remember that sense of unity as a nation and know that we are stronger when we work together. I am so thankful for all the volunteers, firefighters, cops, and other service men and women who risked their lives for others.

I am also thankful for all those who have since gone to fight for our freedom, risking everything for this country. My sister and brother in law are both marines who actually met while over there and I have the utmost respect for those who are willing to risk it all, so that we can have the liberties and freedoms that we do today.


We are and have always been lucky to live in the US and today is a day that should remind us of that.