Writer's Block: 9/11

10 years ago today I was house sitting for my mom. She was in the process of moving, and while she stayed at the old house, I was staying in the new one. She woke me up with a phone call at just after 6am, PST, and told me to turn on the TV because we were under attack. 

I don't think I moved from that TV for more than an hour that entire day. 

I remember watching the towers fall, the Pentagon get hit, hearing about a plane that had crashed in a field. I remember the silence of the skies, the sound of fighters overhead the only buzzing above us. 

My brother had left for the Air Force the day before, Sep 10th.  I remember we had been in the airport and my dad had talked to a security gaurd about a backpack left by a chair.  He had been concerned about it. This was before you weren't allowed to be in the gate area if you weren't flying, so we had all bundled together to see my baby brother off. 

I remember thinking, "Why are you so embarrassing, Dad? There's no one going to cause a terrorist attack here."

I remember the horror I felt while watching the day unfold, the hope that maybe there was survivors, the fear that it may happen again.  Watching news footage of that day brings it all back, and it seems like it was just the other day that it happened. 

9/11, 2001 changed my life, as it changed the world.  4 months later, 4 days after my 23rd birthday, I raised my hand for the first time and swore to protect the country. 

I hope that we never forget, but I also hope that we don't dwell.  To live our life, to love, to laugh... That is the greatest gift and monument we can give for those who lost their lives that day. 

(((Hugs you all)))

Stay safe, my friends, and take care.