Looking Back...

I have read many, many blogs today about where they were on 9/11. 5 years ago today. Has it really been that long? Yes, I know it has. 5 years ago today I woke up early to get some things done before Harmony and Ethan woke up. Ben was skipping class that day and was alseep in our room. I came downstairs and turned the tv on for some noise as I checked my email. I put it on one channel and then kept flipping, until I realized that even pbs, was showing the same images. I sat down and watched. I too watched as the 2nd plane crashed into the towers. I ran upstairs and turned the bedroom tv on. I woke Ben and told him to watch. We sat cuddled in bed, watching the footage. Ben looked at me and said, " I wonder if I will still have my interview?" He went downstairs and got a business card from his wallet and called Lt. Willison, the one in charge of the Navy recruiting center. They said yes it was still on. As he got ready to go, with tears in my eyes, I said, " Are you sure you still want to join the Navy? Ecspeically now?" He looked at me with his beautiful eyes and said, " yes, ecspecially now." His recruiter tried to give him comforting words to send my way such as " CEC's don't really deploy. " (2 deployments later I would love to have a little chat with that man....) Thus we began our journey in the Navy. On 9/11. To be honest, I didn't really know what the towers were. But I remember hearing newscasters say repeatedly, " this is the first time since Pearl Harbor that we have been attacked on our own soil." And those words just never left my thoughts. We were attacked. I went to the store to develop some pictures and they said that only 1 hr. was available because airports were being shut down all over the place. That night was Enrichment, a nice dinner that had been planned, and I sat at a table with a woman whose husband had been in NY that day. She had barely heard from him when she arrived at Enrichment. We were all silently thankful it wasn't us. And that was 5 years ago. This world is in so much turmoil but I really strive to see this country as the wonderful place it is. As I dropped Connor off at preschool, I saw so many innocent faces. Then I got back in my van, and the radio was playing America the Beautiful as I was driving down a flag lined street. I cried because all I could think was, " America is beautiful. We are the land of the free and the home of the brave. We have reason to HOPE. From sea to shining sea, we are a people who have hope. May we never forget....