A Decade Later

I am posting this several days early as I think we all need to take a few moments this weekend to reflect on the past decade. I know that people all over the world are reading this, but I hope that each of you that is an American knows how great this country we live in. There are men and women that are fighting the war on terror abroad, away from their families, so we can wake up in our own beds each morning. Though our lives have changed immensely in the past decade our flag still stands for freedom and we are beyond blessed to live in this GREAT nation. 9.11 was a monumental day in our nation's history and it is one we can never forget.

It is really hard to believe that on Sunday it will be an entire decade since our country was attacked. My past ten years I have traveled the world and been blessed with an abundant life, but I will never forget exactly where I was when I first heard the news. I remember sitting in assembly and getting the news that a plane had hit one of the towers in New York and being shocked. I then remember watching The Today Show and NO one had any idea what was going on; we literally thought a small plane had accidentally lost control. Then, out of nowhere, the second tower was hit, then the Pentagon was and a plane went down in Pennsylvania. Finally, all before lunchtime, we watched as an iconic,unbreakable human structure crumbled to the ground with thousands of people still inside. It was then that we finally realized that America had been attacked. Life as we knew it would never be the same.
September 11, 2001 was a normal sunny day like any other as we awoke, picked out our outfits, ran to Starbucks and rushed in to work. However, by days end the skies were black and a country was broken. Lives were lost and families were torn apart as the country many of us call home was attacked. This weekend and on Sunday, we remember the fallen and honor the heroes. September 11th serves to remind us that FREEDOM IS NOT FREE! I am SO proud to be an American and am blessed to lead the life I do. I am thankful for the men and women that put or have put their lives on the line for me every single day so I can live this life. They are heroes!

My thoughts and prayer go out to all who lost loved ones on 9.11.2001 and all those who are fighting, and stand by those that fight, to protect this great nation.

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?