A Somber Anniversary

I can't believe it's already been 10 years since the Twin Towers fell.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  I had just started my 3rd year of college, and when I got to the lounge that morning, someone was watching footage of the Towers on TV.  It started with just a little bit of smoke coming out of one side of one of the buildings...little did we know how horrendous the whole thing would become.

My Grandpa was still alive then, and was living with my family.  He was not a believer, but he was such a wonderful man.  He had been a co-pilot in World War II whose plane was shot down, and he spent several months in a POW camp.  I'll never forget the devastation he felt at this tragedy.  He kept telling me, "I can't believe it!  I can't believe this is happening in our country."  He would repeat it often, partially from the shock of the incident, and partially because he had suffered several small strokes earlier in the year, so his short term memory wasn't the best.  I remember sitting with him and trying to figure out what to say to comfort him or try to explain it, when as a college student there was no way I could wrap my head around it.

My brother was with the rest of his senior class on his Washington D.C. trip on that day.  He and his classmates were at Arlington National Cemetery when the Pentagon was hit.  He has pics on his camera of the smoke rising in the distance from the Pentagon building.  We were all so thankful that he arrived home safely.

Our country has changed so much since that day.  I think that day we realized just how vulnerable we are.  It is so easy to take our freedoms and power as a country for granted.  To me, it was a good reminder that nothing is permanent on this earth, and we need to thank the Lord every day for what we have...we never know when it might be taken away.   

God Bless America!