In Remembrance

I will never forget where I was on 9-11...I was in my Dorm Room getting ready for Class and My roommates Boyfriend called and said to turn on the news, I turned on CNN and saw that the first tower had been hit about 5 minutes later the plane hit the 2nd tower, it felt like being punched in the stomach, that day and the days following are forever burned in my memory.

It was the first time that I didn't feel safe in America, the first time I realized that we are not immune to the danger out there and the first time I questioned what this world was coming too.

My 19 year old brain was racked with all these questions, most never got answers other than because they hate Americans, but that was never good enough for me.

I remember being glued to my TV with my Dorm floor in the following days and somehow that tragedy brought us all together, as a dorm floor, as a university, and as a country.

There were Ceremonies and prayer circles all over campus, and people who never really prayed started to, young men who never showed sadness or fear outwardly did.

We hugged each other, we cried together and people who were not friends suddenly put that aside to be there for one another.

Arguments about who kept who awake, who hogged the phone too much, who had too many Friends over, no longer seemed important. People were in general nicer to each other, they held doors for each other and were more patient in traffic.

In the following years things have gone back to normal, people have moved on and the niceness has faded in some respects. I often look around and wonder why? why does it take a horrible tragedy to bring people together, to help people realize things they should be doing on a daily basis. I, myself, am also guilty of this and as of late I am trying to over come a lot of these "character flaws".

But I Often think to myself, what is it going to take for people to slow down and realize that life is something to be lived, not something to be gotten through with some OK memories along the way.

9-11 makes it all to abundantly clear that you never know when your time is up, when you are going to be called home.

All too often people make the mistake of realizing this too late and end up having regrets, Personally I am trying to do as much as I can when possible and enjoy life to the fullest.

I guess this is a commitment to myself of sorts, a commitment to let the little things go, to Love deeper, to speak more sweetly and patiently, and to live every day with honor and grace.

I am not perfect, and I know that I will forget this from time to time but I feel as though everything that Donnie and I have gone through in the last year has been a wake up call, it is time for us to start "living", to take control of our destiny and make changes, not only for our lives but for Abby, and any future children we have.

So with all that being said...we will never forget, and even though this tragedy changed the shape of our Country forever, something good can come of it, if we all are willing to try.

In memory of all the lives lost... We remember