Ten years ago I was adjusting to life as a freshman in college. College was still very new and exciting to me: I’d only been in school for a few weeks. I was still beaming over the fact that I finally got my first cell phone (wow, isn’t that crazy?). I was trying to adjust to my odd randomly-assigned college roommate. I was working hard to do well in school and get off on the right foot. I was hoping to make lots of new friends. At the time, I had no real understanding of the types of evil that exist in our world. I had no idea for the level of hatred that some have against our Country.
I came back to my dorm room from my morning classes, only to find my college roommate telling me that we were at war (or something along those lines). I really didn’t have much confidence in her word – she’d been nothing but strange (although nice) to me, and I really didn’t believe she could have any idea about what she was talking about. The fact is, that at the time she told me that we were at war, I’m not sure anyone really knew what was happening. I started watching the news coverage intently in disbelief. I heard the newscasters wonder how such an awful “accident” could happen, only to realize a few minutes later that this certainly wasn’t an accident. I was glued to the television, anxious to hear what was happening. I felt scared, utter sadness, empty, and lost. I also felt pride and honor when I thought about my Country, and the brave men and women who were handling the situations that were taking place.
A lot can change in ten years. I’ve graduated from college, gotten married, moved twice, bought my first house, acquired two dogs, and had two children. When I think about all those things, it makes ten years seem like a long time. Yet, when I think about what happened ten years ago, in many ways it feels like yesterday. We are still battling the enemy. American forces only recently killed Bin Laden. We are still working hard to protect our Country from those trying to infiltrate it to attack us.
I will never look at the world as I did before 9/11. My children have spent their entire lives in a post 9/11 world. I will never forget what happened that day, and I will work to teach my children the importance of that day in history along with so many other days. As awful as these things were, my children need to know about them. I am so thankful and blessed by living in America, and my children need to know that too.
