Remember When

Today is the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States.  New York, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania all took direct hits, but an entire nation will never forget the events that played out that day.  Where were you when you heard the news about the World Trade Center buildings?  What were you doing?  I will never forget that day either.  It was my first year homeschooling my oldest son, well, my only son then and he was my youngest child, eight years old.  My girls were 16 and 13, in high school and middle school respectively.  It was a normal morning and Brian was at the table doing his morning work, getting himself ready for the day.  I went outside to take out the trash and when I came in I saw the first tower in flames and the announcers were saying there had been an accident.  I wasn't afraid then, just thinking what a terrible thing to have happened.  I called my mom and we were talking about it when I happened to notice another plane in the picture on the screen.  I see it in my mind even now and it seems like it was in slow motion.  I remember saying "mom, there's another plane!" and then it hit the building and my heart froze.  This was not an accident.  Brian had come in to watch by then.  The events after that blur together a bit.  I remember my husband calling and saying he was working very close to DC and it was chaos, but he was heading home.  My oldest daughter called from school and I told her to get in her car and come home.  Now.  I don't care what the teachers say!  I headed out to the middle school to pick up my other daughter and there was a line of parents out the door and the principal was saying they were moving everyone into the gym and would release the children one at a time.  Ridiculous.  Fortunately a counselor who I knew saw me and went and got Keri right away and we went home.  When my husband got in we all sat together, watching the drama unfold, and being thankful that our friends and family were safe, while so many others were not.  You just couldn't even begin to imagine the pain they must be going through, not knowing, or knowing the worst had happened. 
Last night and this morning there was a special on MSNBC that replayed footage of that day while interviewing news anchors like Matt Lauer and Tom Brokaw.  I couldn't turn it off.  I watched it four twice last night and twice this morning.  The horror comes right back when you see the video and watch those huge buildings disintegrate before your eyes.  Always remember.  Never forget.  And pray that something like that never befalls the citizens of the United States of America ever again.