I Remember

I remember when I heard about the news of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York. I was a junior in high school at Jackson Prep. I was in math class when some news leaked about the crash. The teacher kinda said that sucks and we should pray for them, but then we went back to our daily business. During second period more information started coming in. We talked about it a little bit and started voicing our concerns that we were going to be hit next. Then we collectively realized that who would want to attack Jackson, MS? Our history teacher, of course, was very interested in it and was one of the only teachers who had the news on during the day and was letting students watch and discuss it. The other teachers tried to keep to their lesson plans as much as they could so I didn't really hear much about it until I got home. When I got home it was like the world was crashing down around us. Every station on tv (except Disney) was broadcasting about it. I watched the plane fly into the building countless times. I stayed on the station, not even wanting to go to sleep for fear I would miss something big. I saw the towers fall and heard about the people jumping out of the 90th floors. It was absolutely unbelievable. How could this happen? Why would this happen? What must the people in the buildings or the people with loved ones in the buildings be thinking and feeling? That was 10 years ago today. Now, more than ever, the impact of that event hits home. Now that I have a husband and a child, it becomes even more unfathomable. I can't imagine being trapped in a burning building, knowing I was never going to see Eric of Kaleb again. I can't imagine talking to Eric on the phone, hearing him scream, and then being disconnected forever. The American people did something that day ten years ago that is very rarely done. They united together. The tragedy of being attacked on our own soil sparked something inside us that should be apparant daily...pride and resolve. You could almost sense America saying, "Oh no they didn't!" Songs were written about it, books and movies stemmed from it, and a sense of that loss and pride rolls around this time every year. I wish we could harness that pride and resolve every day so that each morning we could say with conviction,
I'm proud to be an American
Where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died
Who gave that right to me
So I proudly stand up, next to you
And defend her still today
Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God bless the USA!