Remembering 9/11

September 11, 2001 is one of those days that you will always remember where you were and what you were doing when you first heard the news - just like those of us who were around then remember when President Kennedy was assassinated or our parents and/or grandparents when Pearl Harbor was attacked. These kinds of days are burned into our hearts and memories forever.

I was at work at the church where I was the secretary at the time. I started at 8:30. A little before 9 one of the parishioners came in and told me one of the Twin Towers had been hit by a plane. Though I had a radio, I rarely listened to it but I turned it on. Then we heard the second Tower had been hit. One plane hitting the Towers could be a mistake, but not two.

When we heard about the plane going down in Shanksville, PA and the Pentagon being hit, it was unbelievable. What in the world was going on?? Was our country under attack?? I remember some of ladies were there at the church and they didn't believe me when I ran in to tell them the Towers had actually fallen.

I remember thinking I just wanted to be home and have my family together. At the time our son was at school in Texas with the Air Force. He had just joined the Air Force earlier in the year. What did this mean for him?

Later in the day when I was home and able to see the pictures of what was going on in New York, it was just so surreal. It's still hard to comprehend that something like this actually happened.

Suddenly, everywhere you looked, people were flying flags. In fact, after awhile flags were hard to find in stores so many had been bought. There were flags and patriotism everywhere. People were flocking to houses of worship. It was nice to have the country united for the few months that it lasted.

For those of us who were alive that day, September 11th will never be known as "September 11th" but always as 9/11 and we will always remember where we were and what we were doing that day.

May God bless our Troops! May He bring comfort and peace to those who lost loved ones that fateful day 10 years ago and to the families who have lost loved ones in the fight against terrorism since 9/11.