Where Were You?

Where were you when you heard about the 9/11 tragedy? It's a memory so deeply ingrained in my memory... I remember it vividly.

I was sitting in the front row in freshman biology class... next to Nicole West. The desk was wooden with a thickly painted black top. I was sitting on the left side- closest to the teacher's desk. Behind her desk was a big screen TV.

One of the other teachers in the hallway came running in yelling for us to turn the TV on. He said that a plane had just crashed into the first World Trade Center.

We quickly turned the TV on. We had no idea that America was under attack.

We turned the TV on just in time to see the South Tower attack at 9:03.

All of us young high school students sat in silence. The images were striking... and the gravity of the issue at hand was silencing.

For the rest of the day, no matter what class we went to, we sat and listened.

We listened to the newscasts.

We listened to the sobs.

We listened to the PA system as students were told their parents were closing their offices... my dad closed his as well.

We listened to ignorant boys talk about what they wanted to do to the attackers.

We listened to history.

As the days and months flew by, we witnessed a renewed American pride.

Flags flew proudly all across our small towns.

We witnessed Americans flooding churches. It seemed like the appropriate place to go.

I'm challenging you today...

Do you remember?

Let's not let our pride in America fade.

May God bless America... all the men and women serving... and may He comfort the families so deeply affected by the 9/11 tragedy.