Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of 9/11. It is also Ty's 14th birthday. I do not plan on watching any of the tribute shows. I don't need too. The images of that day are forever with me. To this very moment I can not even think about that day without sobbing. It became a very common question in the days and months after that day. "Where were you...." I was at work. In the Fredericksburg site of Capital One. In a pre-calibration meeting which won't mean much to those not familiar with Capital One. It was Ty's 4th birthday. And the first one I had to miss....because of the stupid pre-calibration meeting...which back in 2001 I thought was very important...which I know now wasn't....
One of our trainers interrupted our meeting with the news that something was going on...because of the "important" nature of our meeting we sent her back to her class with the admonition to just continue teaching because nothing was more important than a Customer Service training class at Capital One. Soon she came back...and told us we really needed to come see....
By this time both the planes have hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had been hit. Fredericksburg is practically a suburb of DC and there were tons of people who worked in F'burg who had family and friends who worked in DC. The site was in full on panic and soon closed.
Beth was at home, sick from school. She was giving me updates. Joey was at school. Ty was at his sitter's house. All I could think was is that I needed to get home. I was in the car driving to the Richmond when the first tower fell. I was in the cafeteria of Knolls' 1 when the second tower fell.
In the days following I devoured all information from that day. I read everything and watched everything. And everything made me sad.
Ten years later everything still makes me sad. I was never one of those that felt any anger or had the need for revenge. There were people in my life who when they learned of this accused me of not caring or not supporting my country. I tried to explain that extreme patriotism on either side was dangerous....but they didn't get it. I never thought we needed to be in Iraq or in Afghan in the grand scale that we are. But that is just me. I feel like we have had too many young men and women die needlessly....but that is just me.
Today as we remember the 10th anniversary of 9/11 I have one of my very best friends in Afghan and my son is in Iraq. I love this country and think it is the best place to live. I also think what the terrorists tried to do in 2001 is fast becoming what we are doing to ourselves today. We are destroying ourselves with our divisiveness. We are becoming less like the America that the terrorists hate us for and more like them. Our intolerance of others and blatant in-fighting is doing to us what they never could....it is destroying us.
On 9/11/2001 we came together as a country. It is time to do it again. We are the greatest country there is....and the reason that we are is summed up in three simple words...."We the People".....not we some of the people...or we the white people...or we the straight people but 'WE THE PEOPLE". And the people are not the members of Congress. It is not the President of the United States. IT IS ALL OF US! And we need to start working together....not against each other. And if we don't our biggest worry will not be another terrorist attack. It will be us destroying us....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW8puRqE4Sc
