9/11: Ten Years Later

Can it really be? I'm sitting here watching a tribute to 9/11. How is it that ten years have passed and those images and memories of that dreadful day are still burned into my mind so vividly? The ironic thing to me is that I'm doing exactly the same thing I was doing ten years ago: Sitting on the couch, glued to the television heartbroken and watching in disbelief. But there is a difference in my astonishment tonight than on that ominous Tuesday morning. That difference I feel tonight lies somewhere between the sucker punch that left our country shocked and gasping for air, and the growth, hope and resilience that has transpired since that fateful morning.

It seems foreign to me that there will come a day when people may not remember EXACTLY where they were and then sense of confusion, fear and brokenness they felt when they found out that the Twin Towers were hit. Not that anyone could possibly forget that day, but hey, we won't be around forever to tell the story. The story of how we overcame as a nation by coming together, determined to protect what the enemy had not destroyed. Our pride, our resolve, and our faith.

Our nation is still rebuilding from that haunting day and the fact that you and I are still here brings responsibility to remember and to honor the people who lost their lives. Pray for their families comfort and strength. The days will pass and distance us further and further in time from those horrific acts, but we must remember for those who can't. Our nation can win the war on terrorism but for the people who lost loved ones, they will never get them back. We will never be able to turn back the hands of time and changed that moment in history, but we can remember how it changed us; how it changed our nation and made us stronger.