I was barely 26 years old at the time. I remember watching the news before I left for work. Ray was supposed to fly to Salt Lake that day for work. It was reported on the news, I was watching the Today Show, about the first plane hitting the towers. I thought it was some horrible freak plane wreck. Then the second plane hit, I saw people jumping from the highest floors of the world trade center, a plane hit the pentagon, flight 93 crashed. My country was under attack. My view of the world began to shift. Ray wasn't going anywhere that day, after all flights were grounded. I left for work with my little portable radio to keep up on what was happening. I got to work and everyone was talking about it. An older lady I worked with said that she was sure it was the work of Osama Bin Laden. I didn't even know who Osama Bin Laden was. I was blissfully unaware and uniformed.
I was shockingly ignorant.
I had voted for Al Gore in the presidential election the previous year. I had been so proud of myself for voting at all, exercising my rights as an American. I had no clue what that really meant. I voted for Al Gore based on sound bites I had heard on the network news and my liberal leanings, which were aided and abetted by my bleeding heart. That is the day I changed. My idea of a safe world was shattered. I could not believe that something like that could happen in my country. Before then, a terrorist was some abstract idea about someone who perpetrates a plane-jacking in some foreign place that was not America. Terrorism was an idea that I had never given much thought. I began to realize everything I had taken for granted up to that point in my life. Every freedom. I began to understand that there are people in the world, through some perverted idea of God, who hated me because I was an American, and they would never rest in their attempts to destroy everything I had taken for granted.
I began to realize that I deeply love my country. Up to this point, with the help of my shiny new college education, I had kind of been an America basher. Big Bad America, was how I saw it. Always trying to get one over on the little guy. Breathtakingly Ignorant. As I said, my view of the world shifted on that day. I began to see America clearly for the first time. Being an American means being one of the lucky ones. The hope and opportunity that America gives is unparalleled in the world. The idea of America was inspired by God. I will never take that for granted again. I began to love my country. I still can't hear the national anthem without getting teary eyed.
Say what you will about President George W. Bush, and I have given him a fair share of criticism, I am forever grateful for his leadership in the days after 9-11. He led this country in the worst crisis it has ever known, he united us, and he took the threat seriously, to the detriment of his eventual political career. I am also grateful to President Bush for keeping us safe for the next 7 years, something for which he gets virtually no credit. In fact, because we have enjoyed such safety, people have become comfortable and have started to forget the unreal horror we all felt in the days after 9-11.
Something positive came out of this horrible tragedy, for me. I figured out who I really am. Who I am became crystalized. I am an AMERICAN! I am a citizen of this country that is Divinely Inspired. I began to pay more attention to the world around me. I got control of my bleeding heart. I have tried to become more thoughtful and informed about the country in which I live. I will never take my freedom and liberty for granted again.
I will never forget.
2 comments:
I can't believe I forgot 9-11 this year. I think about Pearl Harbor and When Kennedy was shot and I hear our elders talk about where they were at that moment. I remember every detail of that day. It too was a changing moment in my life. I TOO bashed america and americans. Too often we forget what it was like to be attacked in our country...something that other countries go through daily. I will never forget that day or those people that suffered. My friend from HS lived there in NYC when it happened and they are both in therapy and dealing with anxiety over seeing it and smelling the burning bodies. I don't say this to glorify it I say this to remind us that there is a price for freedom and too many people paid it that awful day. I don't know how another leader would have dealt with the terrorism but when I hear people minimize the threat I makes me cringe. We are a country that is not looked highly upon in the world and it is because we ARE free. We can go to what ever church we wwant, we can say what ever we want. We have men willing to fight for our country. My neighbor was gone a year this past year in Iraq. It was such an emotional time for his family and as neighbors the sacrifice seemed unreal. To leave your family for the rest of us...really? Gratitude is what I can only think of.
I too had positive outcome from this tragedy. When I went to Russia 15 years ago It too opened my eyes to what we take for granted.
I don't know how I feel about the war in Iraq now. Was a power hungry Bush wanting to finish buisness from Dad? Was it time to finally start facing our worst enemies? Was it a mistake? was it a good thing? I don't know. I felt like Bush was really trying to protect our freedom at the time and I supported him. Now that it has been so long it seems more unclear but why? I don't know Becky and I am not a huge political person that knows what I am talking about half the time but I do know that our country has so much good and bad and we need to be gratefil for the good.
I love this country, I love this land we live in, I love that I can go where ever I want whenever I want, I love that we are able to voice our opinions and I love those men and women that feel so dedicated that they are willing to go serve for the rest of us.
After 911 Jake talked about joining Armed Forces...I was like NO WAY! I need you here.....Aren't you glad that not everyone is like me and selfish?
Seriously I want to sing the national Anthem right now (lol)
Thanks for this post Becky....I loved it and I will NEVER forget!
Love you!
Becky that was a beautiful post, and I agree that many of us take America, and the life we live because of her, for granted.
I do think it's ironic, however, how differently the same events can be interpreted by different people. I totally respect your opinion and don't want to take anything away from this post, so I'll just say that the aftermath of 9-11 was when I became more liberal!
I'm glad that there are people out there who do feel that George W. has provided more safety and a measure of comfort; it actually makes it easier for me to accept the debacle that Iraq has become.
I may not agree with every political opinion you might have, but I think we can all agree that America is indeed a beautiful nation to call home. The ideals, the land, the unity in our hearts... we are very blessed indeed, and national tragedies should never be forgotten. Our freedom and luxuries come at a very steep price, and the least we can all do is hold some reverence in our hearts for the Nation we are so blessed to own.
At first I thought the McCain/Obama walk to ground zero was just too much political-stunting to stomach, (since they DESPISE one another) but as I thought more about it, I realized how important it is to say to the world: We are united. We are one. Whichever leader we choose is one of us, and each candidate loves America enough to make a statement to the world that America is united, that we are indeed the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
Great post Becky. I too cry when I hear the National Anthem!
When I listen to all the political assertions and fighting, I often think to myself, how much better off we'd all be if people really could follow the rule:
Open your mind more, and your mouth less.
Thanks for a post that made me think more than speak! 9-11 is indeed a day to shut my mouth and open my heart... thanks.
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