Not Just for Today

Like most Americans, I will carry 9/11/01 in my heart until I die.  It's been ingrained into my very being.  It's shaped the way I think about things today.  There are so many images that flash through my head when I think about today.

I was listening to the radio when I heard one of the twin towers was on fire.  I called Hopson to get him to turn on the tv, as I looked up, I saw the second plane slam into the second tower.  I remember thinking 'what on God's green earth is going on'?  Has someone lost their mind?  Then we hear about the Pentagon & then the plane that went down in the field.  It was pandemonium.  Planes were grounded, people were on tv with pictures of loved ones who they couldn't get hold of, NYC was a mess.  Our country was a mess.

Images I remember from that day that are burned into my very being are: people jumping from the burning towers rather than being burned alive, it was horrifying; people holding pictures of loved ones who worked in the twin towers, begging for people to call if they knew anything about them; the dust and debris cloud when the towers fell; an American woman in England crying into the flag that was hung on a tree.  All of these mental images bring me to tears, still after 11 years.  Can you believe it's been 11 years?  Sometimes it still feels like yesterday.  Some wounds leave big scars.

To all of our troops still fighting tyranny and oppression all over the world, you have my undying gratitude.  You intentionally stand in harms way to fight for my freedom.  Thank you seems too small a word.  May God put a hedge of protection around you!

I will always remember.

Celebrating Life!
~ashley