That Tuesday In September

"These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat; but they have failed. Our nation is strong." ~President Bush, September 14, 2001

(NOTE: I realize this is two days late, but for me, remembering 9/11 will always be on Sheep Show Tuesday, which is today.)

You read all the time about days that changed the world. Pearl Harbor. The JFK Assassination. Pope John Paul II's visit to Poland. The fall of the Berlin Wall. But that Tuesday in September 2001 was the first of these days that I experienced in my lifetime.

I grew up in a world that didn't really know of terrorism. A time when the twin towers were just buildings. When no one took their shoes off at the airport. Before people knew the name Osama bin Laden. Back then, times were simpler. Children--no, people--more innocent.

Then came that Tuesday in September. At first, my mom telling us at the sheep pens at the State Fair that a plane hit the World Trade Center seemed like a horrible accident. The thought of "terrorism" never crossed my mind. It wouldn't have, because it was not some common event. I'm honestly not even sure I had ever heard of a terrorist attack before that day.



But then, there was a second plane. And the second tower. And in an instant, that Tuesday in September changed the world.

It stripped us of our innocence. The sights from that day---the planes crashing, the people jumping to their deaths from the buildings, the family members frantically searching for their loved ones, the smoke billowing from Manhattan, from the Pentagon, and from the field in Pennsylavnia after a group of heros laid down their own lives to save others---were so painful, so disturbing, many are no longer permitted to be played on television. But for those of us who watched that Tuesday in September, those images are forever burned into our memories.



And now, terrorism is something known by all. It is probably on the evening news daily. Some people are scared to fly. Some are scared to travel overseas. Many fear an eventual World War III. And that change is why the tragedy of that Tuesday in September 2001 continues on. That Tuesday in September changed us all.






And for the families and friends of the 3,000 plus people killed that day, the 10 year anniversary must be unbearable. I did not personally know anyone killed in the attacks. So it is easy for me to say that 3,000 people were killed, without realizing the personal toll that statement has for people. But when I think that each one of those people were someone's parent, or sibling, or child, or friend.....each one of them was a life that was special and unique and important.....well that changes things. Each one of these people left a hole in the lives of those who loved them. A hole that cannot be filled. If you want to hear a heartbreaking example of how a child who lost her father has changed in the last ten years, click here. And to hear the story of a family done by one of my friends about a family who lost their brother, a farmer who was piloting Flight 11 that Tuesday in September, click here.


That Tuesday in September changed the world, but it did not change everything. It did not change strength, the courage, the compassion and the resiliancy that exists in America and her citizens. It did not change the way our nation comes together--to mourn, to pray, to help, to give money and time and blood, to honor, to remember, to sacrifice and to somehow move on. And now, 10 years later, I can only hope that these qualities of our nation--those best displayed in the aftermath of such an unimaginable tragedy--will always remain. May no Tuesday in September ever change these things.