Remembering…

Nine years ago this date I was sitting at my desk at the college when my friend, Mike called and asked me to pray as the World  Trade Center had just been hit by an airplane.  Moments later, he called again and said another plane hit the other tower, then yet another call about the Pentagon and the fourth plan that crashed in Pennsylvania.  I tried to get online to get an update but couldn’t as so many were jamming the internet trying to get news any which way they could.  Our country would never be the same again. 

Word spread rapidly through our college to staff and students alike.  I walked down the hall to an auto body classroom that had tuned the news in on the classroom television.  If I close my eyes, I can still see that room full of stunned faced young men, one being my son and another being a friend of his who was like a son to us.  This was probably the first major event most of these boys had seen in their lifetime.  Most likely, they were too young to remember President Reagan being shot or the Space Shuttle exploding. 

After the shock of the scenes being replayed on the television sunk in, many of them were saying “we’re going to war” and “what about a draft?” and “will I be called in to service?”.  If it wasn’t said, it was thought.   We went to our church that night and joined friends in prayer for our country, our leadership, the lives lost and loved ones unaccounted for.  

So today I am remembering all of those who lost friends and family members, our civic servants (policemen, firemen and our armed forces), the risks they take and what they sacrifice daily.  I thank God for all of you who just “do your job”, a job you have chosen to do to preserve my freedom.  Let us never get so clouded that we forget what some sacrificed then and everyday for us!  Thank You!