I Remember That Day

Eight years ago today everything changed. I remember that day...

I sat on my chair in my living room actually getting ready to take a trip with my wife and son. As we were getting ready to pack and load the car, I turned on the television and got ready to make sure all was ready when I saw an alert on Fox News pop up...a plane had hit one of the towers at the World Trade Center. I thought, "Wow, what a mess that's gonna be. Some small plane guided by an obviously inexperienced pilot was involved in a terrible accident." I remember that day...

I remember watching the news report as an "expert" felt it was just an accident and we shouldn't be alarmed at all. That was at 9:01...I remember that day.

Then I saw a sight I could not believe. The fireball. The second plane had hit. I yelled across the house for my wife to get in the living room...this was no accident. Strangely, my first thought was "Bin Laden." For some reason I knew he was responsible. I had been to Kenya and seen what he and his thugs did to the embassy in Nairobi. I couldn't believe my eyes. We were actually being attacked on our homeland. I remember that day...

I had no idea what to think...especially when the Pentagon got hit. That's when I knew the world had changed. That's when I knew for sure this was more than just a few crazies. We were now at war. I remember that day...

My wife, our one-year-old son and I began to drive to our destination that morning. Every radio station was broadcasting the same thing. Not one plane was in the air. When we passed airports while we drove, all was incredibly silent. It was so eerie. Some gas stations raised their prices to $4 a gallon {that's before $4 was considered normal}. I remember that day...

I also remember the flags...they were everywhere that week. People would stand on overpasses just waving huge American flags to total strangers. There were no total strangers in America that week. We were all Americans. We were all patriots. Strangely, we were all Christians too. It changed everything. I remember that day...

All that I could write about that day and that week would take hours to compile, sort and rethink. This morning, I will be getting my now nine-year-old son ready for school. I pray the world is safer for him now and will continue to be. Yeah, I remember that day...

May God truly bless America and continue to protect her. May we not take for granted what happened eight years ago. I DO remember that day, and to be honest with you, as much as I would like to, I cannot afford to forget it.