Where Were You?

Where were you 10 years ago?  The day your world stopped turning?  

I remember that day and the days that follow with clarity.  So vividly do I recall the events of 9/11 that I still choke up, my eyes fill with tears, and I feel those emotions all over again when I see the pictures, hear the stories, or see the video.  It is a day that will forever live in me.  I see 9:11 on the clock and think of that day; I see $9.11 and it hits me.  That date is forever in my mind.  It's also a day I don't want to forget, to push aside, or erase from my memory.  I came from a family that valued patriotism and a love of country and a desire to see her continue as the home of the free and the home of the brave and I pray that God continues to bless America.  Do I think I live in the best country?  Yes.

It was a Tuesday morning and I had been up early to work breakfast at Shreve Hall.  My shift ended and I had gone out for a quick run before hitting the showers.  I only had two classes that day-American Indian History at 12:30 and Animal Science Senior Seminar at 4:30 (like I said, that day remains in clarity because I can't remember anything else of my schedule during my years at Purdue).  After my shower, I did something I don't normally do....I turned on the TV to make noise in the room while I got ready for the rest of my day.  CNN was on and images of a burning World Trade Center were on.  The ticker at the bottom read of "Plane hitting WTC" but few other details.  I checked a few other channels to find that it was on every single channel we had.  This was big stuff.  As I sat and watched footage, I began to realize that my country, the country I loved, was under attack.  I watched the news until I had to leave for my class only to get there and see that class had been cancelled.  I went back to my dorm and continued to watch TV.  Folks in the hallway were all talking about it.  "Have you heard?"  "Can you believe it?"  "I don't understand."  "Do you know anyone?"  Having lived in a country, isolated from any combat on our own soil since the Civil War, that was now being attacked, and in the most coward of ways, I had never felt vulnerable.  Now I did.  And I did not like the feeling.  I went to my second class and, of course, they were all abuzz with the news.  I don't remember how much lecturing went on but I know we did try to get down to business.  Wednesday's classes went on but with a more somber feel to them and with a somber mood all over campus.  A candlelight vigil at Slayter Hill brought hundreds if not thousands.  I remember hearing a plane go overhead during that vigil and everything and everyone stopped and looked up. Fear were in some eyes.  Hearts beat a little faster I'm sure until that noise went away.
Everything in America had seemed to stop.  Stock market, sports games, flights, etc.....silenced for now.  What do you do?  What do you say?  How do you not hate those around you who might believe in the same book the terrorists did?  I certainly did not hate, but I did not trust.  Nor do I still in some ways....but that's for another time.  Friday I gave blood.  Just a little something I could do.  Wore a flag on my backpack (that remained there throughout the rest of my years) and gave money to the Red Cross.  Went to a memorial service at the Elliott Hall of Music with all of campus as classes were suspended so that all could go.  That Friday night was my first contact with the folks from my Bible Study/church.  While I had been in shock most of that week, I was an emotional wreck when I saw my friends.  Fear came out.  Fear that my brother, who's unit had been activated, was off to fight a cowardly enemy, one who had no rules, no boundaries.  Mostly my faith in the safety and security of my country had been shaken and it showed me that there was truly only one thing in heaven or earth that could be completely trustworthy and faithful....my God and Savior Jesus Christ. People asked me, "Where was your God on 9/11?"  I said, "He was right in the middle of it.  Giving our firefighters and first responders the courage to go into a burning building, He was with co-workers working to save another's life, and giving those involved a peace and calm in the midst of the most troubling of circumstances."  God created us and He also created courage, bravery, and heart.  All things that were seen that day.  So that's where my God was.  And He still is here, with every service man and woman fighting justly to preserve our way of life.  Giving up their freedoms and comforts so that we could be free.  I pray that we don't forget the events or try to erase them from our minds.  Let us never be complacent about our past.  Our past can make us stronger.  The farther away from an event we get, the more likely it gets watered down in our minds.  May this never happen to you.  It won't happen to me. I have moved on in my life since that day 10 years ago.  I don't live in fear anymore, but rather living in freedom both of this world and out of this world.

To the true heroes of this world....firefighters, policemen, our military....willing to give of themselves, to sacrifice and pay the highest price for someone they have never met, to give up their freedoms so that we could have ours....I salute you and give you my solemn promise that I will never forget what happened, what you are fighting for, and I will always honor and respect you no matter the task you have been asked to undertake.

9/11/2001  

Never Forget....The Home of the Free only as long it remains the Home of the Brave