I got up at 7:45 on a Saturday (which, sadly, is super early for me) to watch the footage from nine years ago.
It doesn't feel like it was that long ago. Every time I see pictures or video from September 11, 2001, it feels like it just happened that day.
I choose to watch this footage, and to relive that horrible event, that painful day in history that I lived through, because it makes me remember.
It makes me remember why I wanted Bush back for a second term. Why I love Rudy Giuliani. Why I want to burst with pride when I hear the anthem, or see an American flag, or the lyrics I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free... Why I am riddled with excitement because I am officially old enough to vote, and registered to do so. Why I love veterans, and how deeply I cherish the sacrifices that they made, the hard work that they did. Why I love our troops, for the hard work they are doing and the sacrifices they are making -- and their families, for loving them and supporting them. Why I hate when people rag on Bush and this country and the war and everything else.
Despite the economy, or anything else, this man was strong in the face of tragedy and he helped to hold us together.
I can't forget. Now, or ever. Because even though it's almost been a decade, I imagine it feels like it just happened, as well, for all of those who lost people that day. For people who survived. For those who were injured, and have those scars to this day. For those who searched through the debris. For those who caught it on film with their own hands. For those who watched people jump from the buildings, for those who discovered the bodies, for those who realized that people they cared about (or even just worked with, or knew as an acquaintance) were dead. I won't forget because I know that they can't.
I was twelve years old, sitting at my desk at GBNCA, my feet barely touching the floor. I turned around in my uncomfortable plastic chair when I saw my teachers gathered around the little television in the corner of our classroom, something that never happened (I didn't even know the thing had cable). I probably smoothed my khaki skirt, tugged at my navy blue logo-embroidered polo, or leaned back beyond the wooden dividers to talk to one of my friends - anything but care about the flimsy PACE book sitting in front of me. A few minutes later, Pastor Mike, Miss Debbie and Miss Judy all gathered us up and took us upstairs to the chapel to have an "emergency prayer meeting" - something else we'd never done before. They didn't scare us, they just calmly explained to us as best as they could what was going on, and after we prayed they began calling our parents to dismiss us. My mother and three-year-old sister Abbi ran up the ramp to get eight-year-old Ben and I, instead of waiting in the van. When we got home, we did nothing but watch the news. I remember cutting block cheese on the counter in our kitchen. And my best friend Ashley came over to watch the news with us. We sang 'It's the End of the World (As We Know It)', like the immature young girls we were, since we didn't know how to handle it. We stared up at the sky, afraid of every airplane, fearing that the events of the morning were only the beginning.
Later that night, it struck me what was going on, and I remember crying a lot that night, and the night after that. I remember wishing I was old and strong enough to help them dig through the huge piles of debris. I remember wanting to hold every person, especially the children, who lost people that they loved.
I can't forget. It's all burned into my brain.
I realize that it's your right to say negative things about America, just like it's mine to say what I believe.
But never forget how you have that right.
And never forget September 11, 2001.
"Time passes. However, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September 11th. We will remember the Savior, who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of children."
- President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001
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