I Remember....

I was sitting in seminary before school when Kolin walked in, eating lettuce, and said "A plane just hit one of the twin towers!" The teacher, Sister Cook, asked him to sit down and we'd figure it out later because it sounded like Kolin might have simply gotten the facts wrong. When we left seminary in the Shelley van, and turned on the radio, it was all anyone was talking about. We hurried to school, and it finally felt real when we got into the HS band room to just barely see the plane hit the second tower...

It was a surreal moment and I will be honest in saying that I did NOT fully understand what was happening.  I recall a friend in my band class had parents visiting the Pentagon that morning and was overloaded with worry about them... We didn't find out until that afternoon that her parents were alright.  At the time I was living in New Mexico and we were all on lock-down at school because the missile base there isn't too many hour from where we were... It made it personal. 

I remember coming home and seeing the retaliation beginning by order of President Bush... It felt bizarre and foreign to me - the concept of war (though it had been raging for years in so many ways...).  It will always be raging now.

I am grateful to all the people who sacrificed their time, energy, and lives on September 11th, 2001, and the days and weeks following the event.  I am grateful to all those who sacrifice to make our country strong, successful, and a place to call and feel at home.  At this time, I choose to remember... and we should all make the effort to remember for more than just a few special days each year.  God may bless America, but we should make the choose to bless it too through out actions... and I hope we do just that.

*muah*

Song of the Day:  This is an older song, but a good one!  It's by a favorite of mine, Celine Dion (judge all you will, but homegirl is AMAZING!), and though it's talking about the other side of the country, it's still about loss and taking the time to remember... I just really like.  Haha!  Here is her song, "I Remember L.A."  Enjoy!