I woke up that morning like any other morning around 7 am with Zachary who had just turned 1 at the end of July. We played a bit and then I got his breakfast ready for him around 7:20. I turned on the Today Show to play catch up as I had not watched the news in days, parts of me now wished I had not turned it on. I was watching Matt and Katie as I was folding clothes when they had breaking news that a (at the time I guess everyone assumed it had to of been a personal airplane) a small airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center… they showed pictures and I felt so sad for those people in the building. They of course kept the live picture on the monitors as they were talking and covering the story. About 15 minutes into their coverage a second plane plunged into the other tower of the World Trade Center. I remember thinking to myself, "What a cruel prank for someone to pull.." I had at that very moment had the thought that somehow someone was making it look as if another plane crashed into the other tower. I snapped into reality and realized this was no joke we were under attack. I quickly got Zachary out of his high chair and cleaned him up and held him for as long as he would let me. I thought about all those people in those buildings and how their loved ones must be at home freaking out. I picked up the phone to call Chris at work and tell him what had happened and make sure he was ok. We lived in Irving at the time and he worked for a company that did a lot of work for the government and was in Dallas so I was a bit freaked out. He assured me all would be ok and I think he did not realize til later the enormity of what I had been watching on television.
I was needless to say glued to the television the rest of the day, I felt as if I was watching a movie with no ending. I watched as the 2 towers fell. I watched as the broke news about the Pentagon, the White House being evacuated and about United Flight 93 crashing in the open field in Pennsylvania. I wondered for the rest of the day, hell the rest of the month and probably year what else could happen? I felt as though I had no control over my own life.
I remember watching as each victims story was told on different news programs. I would watch and cry as survivors would tell of people helping them only to realize that the one that saved them later died. I think about the people that were in and around the World Trade Center, and The Pentagon that day, I will never know the despair and fear and hopelessness that must have faced, but each one of those men, women, boys, and girls that lost their life or some part of it that day 8 years ago are my personal heroes. I think a lot about the passengers aboard United flight 93 and how those terrorists must have felt some fear of these brave passengers, when those people decided we will not die in vain. I think it goes to show that all humans can and will work together for the greater good.
I think about that day often not just in September. I think about how great my country is that I am blessed to live in. I would not ever want to call anywhere else my home. We are a country of all kinds of people and beliefs. We are the greatest country in the world. When you mess with us we will mess right back with you. We will not simply roll over and play dead. I am proud to be an American. I hope that each of you will think about how blessed we all are to be here, living in this great country. I hope that we will all stop and remember tomorrow at least for a moment…