9/11

My friend Max was on that plane.

Where were you when you found out about the terrorist attacks?

Last year I blogged about this. I was at the church. I went home and spent all day glued to the television, much like today. I've spent a few hours watching the special reports and the memorial services. Harry Watters, (who I blogged about on Saturday) and the other members of the Army Brass Quintet who I met last year, played for the laying of the wreath ceremony attended by our President at the Pentagon. I don't think I could keep it together enough to perform at something as emotional as that.

Tonight we are watching, as I type this, the controversial movie on ABC about the events leading up to the attacks. It reminds me of the cliche "hindsight is 20/20."

I haven't watched any of the actual events like the airplanes hitting the buildings, or the towers on fire... I'm not sure I want to revisit those events.

Do I feel safer today than I did then? Hey, this is someone who flew into Heathrow Airport in London the day the USA declared war on Iraq. There were tanks lining the road in front and military men carrying around m16's. It was scary, yes, but I felt like life has to go on. I'm thankful to live in a country that, yes, I do feel safe in.

Now the movie we watched is over. They did show real footage of the attacks. It was hard to watch, but it was harder to see the emotions and reaction of the real people (okay real actors, but real events) involved.

So are we better off? Yes, I think we are. I think that the terrorists are hard to stop. They are not a normal enemy that can be fought in conventional warfare. They want to kill Americans and be killed in the process.

I want my children to be safe, I want to be safe. I do know that I'm proud to be an American, I'm glad to have the freedoms we have here, and the lifestyles that we want to live. There is no easy answer.

It's interesting... Joshua watched the movie with us. He talked about the day it happened, how his third grade teacher didn't even mention the attack. He said he remembers clearly the principal coming in and talking to his teacher. But he didn't know what happened until he came home and saw it on the news. I'm glad I was with him. I hope he never forgets.