9/11

Nine-Eleven: Two words, two numbers, that conjure up very vivid scenes in my memory and still jar painful emotions in my heart.

I remember it all so vividly. I was in our basement on the elliptical trainer. The TV was on (trying to take my mind off the pain and effort) when, all of a sudden, footage was being shown of the North Tower. I absolutely could not believe that a plane had flown into a building. How do you not see a building? Was it pilot error? Was it an aircraft problem? Was the control tower to blame?

Then, a second plane flew into the south tower? What?!? How could that happen? I think I was slower than most to realize this was a deliberate action - not wanting to believe someone would do such a thing on purpose.

Slowly, realization dawned. We, the people of the United States, were being attacked. Not on some faraway battlefield or some remote locale. Not trained soldiers who signed up for the job. But everyday Americans here on our very own soil. Unfathomable.

For a while, America changed. We were a united, God-fearing, patriotic country. We were no longer politically polarized. We were less selfish.

I fear that too many have forgotten. I don't mean the actual event. I think we've forgotten the emotion. We've forgotten to lean on each other. Most of all, we have forgotten not to take our freedom for granted.

Most of my children were too young to understand then what was happening. Today, we will spend some time discussing the events of September 2001. What is freedom? Can you have too much freedom? Is freedom worth dying for? What do you do when people abuse their freedom and make disastrous choices that affect others? Would we be better off with limited freedom? Can others take our individual freedom away?

I love my country. I enjoy my freedom. I honor and revere those who have stood in the trenches, fallen on the battlefield, and braved the enemy to secure that freedom for me and for my loved ones. I still cry when I talk about the brave citizens on Flight 93 who crashed that plane on a Pennsylvania field rather than risk it being used as an instrument of death against others.

I don't want my children to forget. I don't want to forget.