when they fell, we all changed.
we all felt true,raw,searing fear.
the bubbles we lived in popped.
we felt despair. disbelief. anger. nausea.
10 years later i still feel those exact same emotions.
i cannot look at the photo above without my eyes filling with tears and my stomach turning.
HOW? How did this happen? How could this have happened?
10 years ago i was 24. You know the Alan Jackson song?
Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?
Just like the lyric says I was “teaching a class full of innocent children”. Kindergarteners.
When I heard the news (whispered in my ear as I was giving a student teaching lesson), my heart changed. my life changed in bigger ways than i ever could have imagined.
Suddenly dating (and knowing I was going to marry) a west point boy…well it was a whole new ballgame.
Before the “army” part was almost an afterthought to me. We weren’t at war…I wasn’t even sure what his job entailed.
But september 11 changed all that.
I pray…PRAY with all of my heart that my girls will never experience that feeling of a rug being pulled out from under them.
That feeling of raw, heart-ripping fear. that senselessness. that vulgar hatred.
i pray they never know it.
i pray they will know a lot of things. love, happiness, joy. i pray they handle the hurdles with grace. heart breaks, doubt, anger, loss.
but please God. don’t let them ever have a day like september 11.
may we never forget.
s