Remembering...

9/11.

Just saying it brings a look of recognition and understanding from just about any person in our generation. A day that shook not only a city....not only a country...but the world.

Many bloggers have talked about memories today. Many radio shows have done the same. We all remember "where we were when we first heard..."

I remember turning on the morning news and wondering why they had a movie showing at that time of the morning. Then I realized it was real. I worried about whether I should tell the girls; whether I should send them to school. I wanted my family close. But in the end, Roy stayed at work and the girls went to school and we got through the day. I remember a couple of friends coming over to watch the news and pray together. I think I was pretty much glued to the news stations for days on end. Somehow life kept going while a large part of my heart...and our nation's heart...stopped. We lost so much that day. We lost friends and loved ones. We lost brave firefighters and policemen who ran toward danger in order to save strangers. We lost a sense of "innocence" that my generation (and the ones that follow) had always had. We had always been safe and had come to expect that nothing bad could or would ever happen to our country. We were wrong. And we had to, in many ways, grow up.

Now here we are, 7 years later. Have we continued to grow up? Have we learned from this most devastating day? Are we living our lives differently than we were...before 9/11?

To those families who lost loved ones in the attacks, I remember. And I pray for you today. To those who ran to help, thank you again. For those who are still hurting, you are not forgotten.

To those who are even now fighting for our freedom at home and around the world, thank you so much. We appreciate all that you do and remember to pray for you and for your families. Thank you for keeping us safe from harm.

May we continue to learn and grow from the memory of the horrific events of 9/11.

May we never, ever forget.