I Remember

There are probably hundreds of thousands of bloggers posting today about 9/11 and those who are writing those blogs most likely experienced it themselves.  


I'm not offering a riveting story about my day on September 11th 8 years ago, because I don't.  
I do not write because I have an incredible perspective, because I don't.
I do not write because I think that I have anything of worth to say about 9/11, because I don't.


I am only writing because I remember.


Forgive me if some of the events are out of order.  It's been awhile.


The alarm went off to the radio.  They were saying something about an airplane crash.  I snoozed it.


Travis' alarm went off also to the radio and they said something about 2 planes crashing.  I didn't nudge him to snooze it.  Two planes in just a few minutes?  Something is wrong here.


I leaned over to Travis and said, "Honey, I think the radio said something about two planes crashing."  He turned on the TV.


And there was the story unfolding minute-by-minute on live TV.  Not only had two planes crashed, but they crashed into the towers.  Terrorists were not confirmed just yet, but there just couldn't be any other explanation.


Oh my gosh.  Terrorists.  Here.


My father-in-law was staying with us.  He is an early riser.  WAY early.  I went downstairs to tell him what was going on.  We rushed up the stairs together.


There we sat, my husband, my father-in-law, and I, utterly speechless.  We just kept watching the images of the planes crashing again and again and again.  ...and again.


I grew tired of watching this and headed downstairs again to start making my husband's lunch.  My father-in-law came down and we just talked in disbelief, not really having much to say, but being people who process through words, we couldn't just keep silent either.


My husband came running out of our room and hollered down the stairway,


"They got the White House!"


Now, my husband was in such disbelief of what was going on that he misspoke.   Who can blame him?  Once my father-in-law and I ran up the stairs, jaws dropping, we heard that it was the Pentagon.


I didn't feel any better.  The military headquarters.  They attacked it, too???!?


This is when the nervousness really set in.  How many more planes were there?  Are they heading for the West Coast?  (We live on the West Coast.)  What's next?  How will we know when they are finished attacking?  Really, how many more planes are there?


And then another plane went down.


It went down in a field.  We all know the story of the heroic passengers of Flight  93 and the last words anyone else besides those on the plane heard, "Let's roll."  Of course, at this point all we know is that another plane crashed in a field.  The rest of the story would unfold in the hours and days to come.


And then the images of "Ground Zero" began to stream in.  Images that never should have been aired, too gruesome to write about.  It's utterly shameful the things that were aired that day.  I suppose equally as shameful is the fact that I watched it.  What is it about us that makes us scope out every highway accident...or watch people die on live TV?


The most vivid memory I have is the live video of when they told George Bush what had been going on in our country while he was reading to elementary school children.  I will never forget the look on his face.  I can't really say why it had such an impact on me, but it pierced me deep inside.  Perhaps it was a mixture of compassion for what he must have been feeling and what he had ahead of him, sadness for what was going on at "Ground Zero" and fear for what would lie ahead.  Perhaps a feeling of confidence that there was a Texan in charge and you know what they say..."Don't mess with Texas!"  I know that's stupid, but whatever.  What I knew is that Texas had the death penalty and I was ready to deliver.


For my "peace-lovin'" friends, if that offends, so what.  I'm patriotic and what they did was evil.  I know it's not "Christian", but I won't apologize (at least until Judgement Day) for the fact that I wish torture and/or death on those who purposely planned that attacked on our country that day and left so many children without their mom or dad that was supposed to be home that night, telling them to do their homework, to get ready to for bed, and inform them that they're grounded for 30 years.  


Phew!  I'm getting worked up!  It's interesting how emotions can lie dormant for some time, only to resurface later.


The rest of the day was pretty much spent listening to the news while trying to do the normal routine of the day...as if it was a normal day, which it wasn't.


And there it is.  Again, I don't really have anything to say that is of any significance except...I remember.


And thank you to those who defend our freedoms today.  May the Lord bless you and keep you.