09/11/2026
I dont usually comment on 9/11 because Ive never been sure what to say that really gets a handle on what we experienced that day.
Where were you when you got the news?
I was in school - in social studies. I remember the teacher pulling down a map and sort of showing us what had happened. Then school ended early and my mom and I spent the evening at church- praying and holding hands with strangers.
It didnt really sink in for me how horrific that day was until after. I think many of us felt so protected in our little bubbles that the shock of something like this happening was truly unfathomable. Alan Jackson says it best... where were you when the world stopped turning?
But its also the stories I heard afterward, and continue to hear every year, of people doing unfathomably kind and heroic things that also brings me to tears. Our first responders that spent DAYS with no breaks or no sleep - only so they could get that next body out. The everyday people on the planes that jumped in to risk their lives. The sense of community that just seemed to pervade in the aftermath.
I'm not quite sure why I felt compelled to comment today but as I look around I sort of wonder at the divisiveness and vitriol we express toward each other today. Would we have the same response to such a disaster? Would we be capable of coming together? When we call each other treasonous, or dumb, or "less", I think it takes away our power as a nation. I think this day should be a reminder of how we can come together and support what is good. Not focus on partisan politics. For one day. We were all 5th graders in that room, the day the world seemed to end.
Sorry for the ramble ;). Today always gets me.
