Never Forget...

The news is filled with reminders of what we as a nation endured 10 years ago. Even though I have no personal ties, other than being an American, with those that lost their lives or loved ones, it still brought back very real memories and emotions.

10 years ago...

I had been married less than a year

was 5 years away from my first baby girl

I had been working as a teacher a little more than a year

we had just bought our first house in August

we still had our beloved pal, Bailey, and Cassie was just a puppy (no Moe or Britni)

It is amazing to look back and see what we have accomplished in a short 10 years.

This morning, Kaelin, Macie and I were getting ready for church. I turned the TV on in the kitchen so we could watch the news while we were eating breakfast. I did not notice what was on when I first turned it on, but I quickly heard those horrifying recollections of 9/11. Kaelin was glued to the TV. I quickly went over to change the channel. I offered to put it on cartoons.

She said "No mom, don't change it, I am watching this. A plane just crashed into that beautiful building."

Not exactly sure where to go with this conversation, I said "That is not happening now, that happened 10 years ago, before you were born. "

She said "What happened to the building?"

I said "Some very bad people flew their plane into the building."

She said "Well that was rude, wasn't it?"

I said "Yes it was"

I began thinking about her innocence and compassion for others. She was right, that was rude, we should never fly our planes into buildings.

She continued watching the documentary.

Then she said "Mom, do you think we should say a prayer for those people tonight?"

With tears in my eyes, I said "Absolutely, we definitely should."

I really think that is a summary of where we were 10 years ago and where we are now. I have a sweet 5 year old who has such a love for people and realizes the fact that we need to pray for people in their time of need. We could all use more love and more pray.

If you want to know where I was 10 years ago...

I was sitting in a classroom full of students. One of my students came in and said something is going on in New York. I think something happened to the World Trade Center. I dismissed the conversation thinking it was probably not a big deal. Then someone else came into my classroom and confirmed the fact that it is probably more of a big deal than I was initially thinking. So, I had a TV in my classroom, and I turned it on. It was not hard to find a station that was covering the story. I began watching the news unfold with a classroom full of high school students. We were watching as the second plane hit the second tower. We were watching as they both collapsed. Glued to the TV, we did nothing but watch in horror. I remember students calling their parents to give them a release from school. Everyone felt as though their safety and security was in jeopardy. I can't tell you what we were suppose to be doing or what we did the next day, but that day... that moment... will forever be etched into my memory.