Remembering 9/11

Today marks the 7th anniversary since that tragic day on 9/11. Life was much more simple then. I guess you could say we, in America, were all living in a dream world. We may each have had our own distractions, but none effected us as much as that awful day in September 2001.

All our little problems became one giant problem as we faced the future with the realism that no longer could we consider this great nation of ours as a safe place to enjoy the freedoms our forefathers had fought to provide us with. This was the day some terrorists decided they hated America and its people so very much and were so convinced that it was their job, in the name of God, to sacrifice their lives and the lives of thousands of our American citizens to die for their "cause." Two planes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City and two others crashed en route to destinations to kill even more of our people. One hit the Pentagon in Washington, DC and the other crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.

It's amazing how three numbers could have taken on such meaning in our world. 9-11, signifying September 11. 911 indicates help is needed. I'm sure there was definitely a clear message being sent by the terrorists in chosing that date. Whatever the reasons for chosing it, it has become three numbers that have changed from simple to significant.

On 9/11 in 2001 my husband and I were enjoying a wonderful trip with two of our closest friends in the world. Friends at that time of close to 40 years. We were visiting the beautiful country near Dundee, OH where we had planned later in the week to meet up with a young woman, a young Amish woman. My husband and I would finally meet her and her family for the very first time. This young girl and I had become a pen pal a few years earlier when she was around 12 years old. My friend had met her in their earlier days of travel and had visited her school and got her name to become her pen pal before me. Thus my interest in communicating with her.

It would be a day or more later before we would meet up with her so we had started our day with four adults and two dogs touring the area while staying at night in their Airstream travel trailer. We had camped out in a campsite nearby. We had finished our breakfast and were putting the finishing touches on our faces, etc. to begin another beautiful, crisp, cool, fall-like morning of touring points of interest in the area. Today would include a trip to the local cheese-making factories and stores. The television in the trailer was on and we were half-listening to one of the national news stations when our attention was directed to an airplane hitting one of the Twin Towers in New York City.

Of course we were astounded at the news that such a thing could happen and devastate a building in one of our big cities. We watched as the people streamed out of the building, ashes falling around them. They were in so much shock and disbelief, and who wouldn't have been. They were just beginning what was supposed to have been a normal day for them. They had kissed their spouses and children good bye that morning or engaged in whatever disagreement some may possibly have had with each other, then gone forward with whatever emotions they had, good or bad, but certainly not expecting to be faced with the trauma and drama the day would present. The greatest trauma any of them would ever have to face in their lifetime, past or present.

Once the initial shock of what had happened began to wear off and we, as Americans were forced to understand, to realize that it wasn't just simply "pilot error" that had caused the crash into the building, it slowly sank in. America had come under attack by foreign invasion. Kind of like the old thought we sometimes have that "It can't happen in my family". It did happen in our family. Our American family. Something that I think most of us had never entertained a thought could possibly have happened in this country.

Some reporters had indicated it was terrorist related and Al Quaeda and Osama Bin Ladin had proudly claimed responsibility for it. Proud to have killed hundreds of Americans. People they knew nothing about; people they had no personal contact or relationship with. Humans who had no more meaning to them than a bug, or a flea. But they were proud.

We left the trailer and later found out about the other three planes crashing. We also found out that one of the planes had been diverted over the very area we were in. So very near the place it finally crashed and burned, killing those people on board.

The little community we were in was equally astounded by such horrific behavior of these criminals, these murderers. It consisted of quite a few of the Amish people. These people don't have access to modern television and most don't have phones, though a few have cell phones or pagers for their business. Somehow the news spread, probably thanks to their English neighbors.

We were told more of the details while we were touring the cheese factory. Then was when it really sank in just how horrible things were. It was more than just a pilot who had problems with a plane. It was truly an attack. A direct attack on our country that we all take so much for granted everyday we live.

As long as my memory holds true, I don't guess I'll ever forget one incident we witnessed in a little shop there in town. There huddled around a radio of the business was an Amish gentlemen listening intently to what had been witnessed and was being reported on by the media. His face was mirroring his deep concern over things he was hearing. This is a community of people who are peace loving,God fearing and don't bother anyone else. They just live their lives day to day striving to put food on their tables and raise their children in an entirely different Godly way that these horrible terrorist had done.

As the news spread there were rumors of gas prices hitting as high as $5.00 a gallon. This was an unbelievable price for gas. I don't know without going back and checking our receipts just what the average price of gas was at that time, but it certainly had not hit the ridiculous price of $5.00 per gallon. That was an unbelievable rate. Add to that the fact that gas was very scarce. Here we were in a very different part of the country with two vehicles, one which towed an Airstream trailer and wondering how we would ever get home at those prices. How few and insignificant our worries were in comparison to the people who had suffered that dastardly event earlier in the day.

Later in the week we finally met and visited with our little Amish friend and her family and while they were careful what they said, they too, were very concerned about the events of the week. The evils of the world affected the good elsewhere in the country.No man, woman or child lives in a world where they aren't affected by such evil. Even today we are still feeling the effects of that awful day in 2001.

In my opinion, God was truly watching over America when He led us to the president who carried us through those days following 9/11. I remember hearing a later presidential hopeful, who readily admitted he was so stunned at the events that he and a lot of his fellow leaders in Washington could not re-act to the things that had happened. Scary, very scary! We are so very fortunate our leadership didn't have to stop and think about how to handle what had happened for hours on end. The President completed reading the book he had started reading to a group of kids in school in Florida, then he made his move to lead forward and deal with what he had to deal with.

I'm sure there are many people who will do their best to make sure that his name doesn't go down in history as being a great leader. You can twist and turn facts all you want, but it doesn't change true facts. And this man showed true leadership through this and many other crises he had to deal with over the last eight years including Hurricane Katrina, which was truly a disaster that should have been handled better on the local level and would never have caused so much pain and suffering. He's dealt with a war which has been very unpopular with millions of people in this country. He's had to deal with floods, fires and much more than any other President in the past has had to deal with in his term of office. He's held up his end of the oath he took when he swore he would defend this country to the best of his abilities. He also took the oath to defend against both foreign and domestic, that means inside this country. Sometimes I think we forget that part of his oath, but thank goodness he is trying to do both. And we do have enemies within our own country. We must continue in this direction. It isn't an option! That has to be an awfully hard task. He's been blamed for having such a deficit because of spending, but folks you have to remember where and why he had to spend it. Just be glad you aren't in his shoes, but be glad you have an able leader.

He took a lot of flack about leading our troups into that war. Perhaps history will give an honest evaluation on whether this was a good move or not, but he had and still has my trust in what he's done. We were and are in crises.

Terrorism will continue to be a problem in our future and our childrens future and all generations to follow, and we cannot allow the evil to continue without facing it head on. There is no room for negotiations. Evil prevailed because we were afraid to face our enemies before this happened. We were warned; we just ignored the warnings in the name of peace-keeping, or perhaps so other people's legacy wouldn't appear so terrible. Perhaps had we chosen to avoid so many negotiations in the past 9/11 wouldn't have happened. That's all speculations at this point. I suppose it would have been a matter of time, however, before we had to face realizism.

We are facing a time in our lives where we must not accept mediocre leadership. We must be able to trust our leaders to lead and demand they protect our country. But we must assume some responsibility by electing those leaders who can and will best protect us.

Since that dark day in September we have been blessed with two more handsome, sweet and adorable grandsons to add to the one who was quite small that year. We've also been blessed with an equally describable granddaughter, too. What their future holds is frightening to say the least.

Since I have a son still in that area, I cannot rest easily a single day. Even though, thankfully he was not in the area at that time, it doesn't stop the uneasiness I feel when I hear of a plane crashing into an apartment building or a train with major problems heading into the city or any other such occurances. I don't hear of problems of planes in the air anywhere across the country, or incidents of questionable causes in any of the large cities I know he has to visit without worrying. It is very difficult not to worry about him. He is still at great risk anywhere he is either in that big city, in the air on in another city. I just pray he doesn't come to be a statistic like those other people who died in the World Trade Center in 2001.

It is with true sadness I think of them and pray for their families even after seven years. I pray for our president. Those shoulders have held up an awful lot of weight over this past eight years. I pray for this country that we can be aware of problems and trust our country only to the best leadership in the future.

9/11 changed our world. Change we can not afford to have happen again.