9/11

Today is the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. I think everyone can tell you where they were when they got word that terrorists had attacked our country. While I remember it and think about that day often, I haven’t really shared it with my girls. What do you say? How much do you tell them?

Hope heard most of the story at school. And it made me sad that we hadn’t talked more about it at home first. It’s not that I was hiding it from her; I just didn’t want to scare her. As we were talking the other night (after they had a big discussion in class), I told her a little bit about it. I told her how I was 7 months pregnant with her and had just flown the week before. I told her how quiet it was with no planes flying overhead on their way to DFW Airport that week. I told her how sad our whole country was.

Here’s the other part that I didn’t tell her: it shook me to my core.

I was a sales manager and had been on the phone on my way to Ft Worth so I didn’t even know what happened until I got to my client’s. That was when we still thought it was an accident. We went to look at a job and when I dropped my client back off, we saw the footage from the 2nd plane on a little TV in their shop.

While I knew in my head what had happened, I don’t think it set in until I got home and sat next to Brian on the couch and watched all the reports. When I walked in the door of my house, I will never forget the expression on Brian’s face. It was one of total disbelief. As we sat there, watching the reports, we were stunned. I’ll never forget Brian’s words, “What kind of world are we bringing our child into?” Would she grow up in a time of war? Would the freedom that we had experienced be a thing of the past?

Many questions zoomed through my head as I sat glued to the TV for the next few days. So much anger when I saw the videos of Bin Laden laughing about the full tanks of gas causing even more destruction. Sadness as I saw families holding up pictures of their loved ones. Pride as I heard the phrase, “Let’s roll.” And chills as I saw our politicians gather to sing.

9/11 changed our nation. But we sometimes forget. While I value our freedom, I am sad that it takes an epic tragedy like that to bring us together. I pray often for our leaders—whether I agree with them or not. 9/11 reminded me of the importance of that. It still does.