September 11, 2001

Eight years ago I was sleeping with the sunshine beating down on my face as I was working the night shift back then. My Mom came into my room and told me that I needed to get up. She said she thought it was the end of the world. "Someone flew a plane into the World Trade Center." Naturally I was in shock and disbelief and it honestly took a minute for what she said to sink in. I went downstairs, looking out at the blue sky through the window in the living room. On ABC they showed pictures of the smoke billowing from the first tower. Mom and I just watched and listened, trying to make sense of it. Not too much longer we were watching when the second plane hit. It was then that it really sunk in. We were under attack. It was unbelievable. More and more pictures and footage became available as time went on. It was all we could talk about. Later that night when I went to work, my friend Jennifer picked me up and we talked about it all the way to Springfield. They even locked us down in our building so we couldn't be hurt. Some people didn't even come to work. A couple of nights later, they instituted a strict dress code which didn't allow us to wear anything which showed an affiliation with anything like a sports team.

My patriotism ran deep before September 11, 2001 and it was made even deeper by the attacks on New York, the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania. I am proud to be an American. I am proud of those who died before us so we can live in this world. I am proud of those fighting to keep us safe everyday. God willing, something like this will never happen again. I just pray for all the people affected by those attacks.