10 years

9|11|2001 - a day I will never forget.  I woke up anxious for my 21st birthday (which is the 12th) my friend Audra picked me up so I could sit with her kids while she was in class.  I heard the news about a plane hitting the tower, but in my head it was a small plane and wasn't as serious as it turned out to be.  Any crash would be serious, but I could never have imagined the extent of the reality looking back.  Audra came back out and told me that they had been watching the news in class and that it was a big passenger plane that crashed into the building, and that there was another plane that hit the other tower as well.  I thought, what are the odds of that happening?  Then it hit me... it had been on purpose.  It had been planned to maximize the loss of American lives.

But what kind of person or people would do that?  Who would want innocent men, women and children to die?  What kind of monster would be part of that?  To this day it still boggles my mind that there is anyone out there that thinks like that.  Maybe I am naive, but it just seems unbelievable that people can be so heartless and cruel.  It still makes me sick to think of the enormous loss suffered by so many people that day. No one I loved died there that day, but I do know that one guy I went to school with died in the towers. :(

There have been so many times in my life where I am reminded of how blessed I am.  The tragedy that is, September 11, 2001, opened my eyes and made me even more proud to be an American.  There is no point in my life where I felt anything but proud to be an American, but that day marked a new level of proud.  My time as a Navy wife has also broadened my pride, and that is something I will never forget.

Maybe it was my upbringing, my mom and dad always taught me to stand during the National Anthem, and to be respectful of the flag.  It irritates me to see people being disrespectful of the flag and what it stands for, so seeing the towers attacked as well as the Pentagon and other plane that went down, made me so very angry.  I was angry for the families who lost loved ones, for the heroes who saved lives and ultimately lost their lives, and for the rest of us who witnessed the horror of that day and the days following.

9|11|2001 wasn't just a one day nightmare, it lasted for weeks, months, years... a decade!  It is still a nightmare to this day.  Even though it has been 10 years, the fear I feel when flying is real, and the thoughts that pop into mind when I see or hear a low flying plane still haunt me.  There is always that question, the fear, the adrenaline.   I can only imagine the terror would only be matched by things like war, and tragedies like Pearl Harbor, the sinking of the Titanic and natural disasters.  The difference to me, and maybe it doesn't even matter, but the difference to me is that Pearl Harbor and wars are attacks on military usually.  This was an attack on civilians, an attack on everyday life in America.  The targets were well thought out and suited the point the terrorists were trying to make.

My heart still goes out to the families of the victims of 9/11 as well as the families of those who died fighting the War on Terror. I am proud to support our military, and so very blessed and proud to be an American.