Ten years ago today we experienced a tragedy of unfathomable proportions. On that crystal-clear morning, my condo was piled high with boxes, and I was fretting about how in the world I was going to accomplish everything I needed to before the big day. I was also very excited. You see, after twenty-two years of marriage, all of our hopes had become reality. We had purchased our dream home, and on that fateful morning, I was preparing to go for the final inspection. Over the previous four months, we had watched it being built. We watched it rise: from a deep hole in the mud to a beautiful two-story home. Our home. The American dream: our dream. We had waited so long and suffered so much to realize this day. And then the phone rang.
The sound split the air much as it split all of our lives that morning. In that moment, life was divided into two parts: before September 11, and after September 11. I turned on the television to a surrealistic horror story. The American dream gave way to America's nightmare. In a fleeting instant, we bade sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers, and our innocence goodbye.
In the agonizing aftermath, we mourned. It was a pain like no other. Collectively, we cried, knowing that somehow, nothing would ever be the same again. But somehow, as the phoenix, even in death, rises from it's own ashes, the character of America rose from the wreckage. It rose from a Pennsylvania field, in the spirits of forty men and women who gave everything they had left to give for the love our country. It rose from ground zero from the souls of more than three hundred firefighters, who considered the lives of others more important that their own. It rose from the heart of every courageous person who has ever donned a uniform in the service and protection of us all. And it rose from those left behind who refuse to let them be forgotten.
It has been said that those who fail to remember their history are destined to repeat it. Let us teach our children, lest we forget what has been lost, and what has been gained. For although we mourn our loss, we have been given a priceless example of what it is to be uniquely American.
Until next time,
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