Never Forget

Do you remember where you were 8 years ago today?

I do. I was living in Pleasant Grove and I was getting ready for work. My normal routine was to turn on the Today Show while I did my hair. This morning was no different. I heard Matt Lauer announce that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I went out to the living room and remember thinking, “What kind of an idiot would fly a plane into a building?” At the time, I thought it was a small plane accident.

I was wrong.

I continued getting ready when I heard Matt say that a second plane had hit the Towers. Now, I knew something serious was going on. So I sat on the couch and watched the TV for a little while. I don’t remember much other than feeling shock. In my generation, we had never experienced something like this. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to react?

Should I be sad? Angry? Shocked? I think it was a combination of feelings that day.

I finally pulled myself together enough to make it to work. I remember pulling up CNN and watching the video of the Towers collapsing and then hearing about The Pentagon and Flight 93. What was going on?

The next few days were a blur. I remember watching lots and lots of news. There were so many questions and so few answers. And then, we were at war.

And life has never been the same since.

Three years ago I visited Ground Zero. I never saw the Twin Towers, but I saw where they once stood. In the middle of busy New York City, there is a giant hole in the ground. With cars and taxis and people and buzz all around, somehow this corner of the city is quiet and solemn. It’s almost a spiritual experience to be there, standing at the place where so much death and destruction occurred. To stand there, staring at a gaping hole in the pouring rain and remembering the lives that were lost, the heroes that were born, and remembering a few of the miracles that happened that day.

May we never forget. May we never forget the tragedy. No matter our political affiliation, no matter how we feel about being a country at war, we must never forget. May we protect our families, our homes, our religion, our great country. May we always remember our loving Father in Heaven who blesses and watches over us. May we never forget.