Patriot Day

Tomorrow is Patriot Day, the remembrance of September 11th. It's hard to believe it's been 8 years since that fateful day. The worst tragedy of our generation. I remember days after, newscasters were commenting that for the rest of our lives, we would remember exactly where and what we were doing when the first plane struck the World Trade Center. They compared it to Pearl Harbor and how people always remembered that. I was sitting at the drive up window at the bank. In all honesty, terrorism was not my first thought when things started unfolding. I couldn't imagine something so horrific actually happening on American soil. When I got to work, I found out my friend's husband was working in Tower II. Unfortunately, the worst news came and he was killed. I also remember how everyone started treating each other with respect and kindness. It had been a long time since that happened. I remember the pictures and speaking to people who witnessed everything first hand. Hearing story after story of those who got there late, of those who walked miles to get home, of those who watched people jumping from buildings, watching the buildings collapse and of those who spent day after day waiting for news. My neighbor worked at one of the NYC hospitals that became a trauma center. I remember going to the city and seeing the temporary morgue set up. More than a year later, I was speaking with a woman who was going on a trip for the first time in 50 years. Her daughter had been pulled from one of the buildings at the last second before collapsing and now she was afraid to go on a plane. She started telling me her daughter's story and how it has affected her life, even though she survived. The whole country took notice and felt the pain even if they didn't live in New York, Washington or Pennsylvania. We need to stop and take notice, not just on September 11th, but every day of our lives. We need to support those men and women who are fighting for our protection and for our freedom. We need to take a stand against those who would see the United States of America fall. We need to remember those who lost their lives and those who were left behind....both the survivors and the families of those who were lost...not just on September 11th, but forever.....WE WILL NEVER FORGET!