I will never forget

Today is 9/11. We have spent the day trying to explain to our older two girls the importance of what today means to our country. They don't get it. They try but to them war, violence, terrorism happens so far away from thier lives. Those are things that happen on TV and in other countries. I am so grateful that my children's lives are like that, that there innoncence has not been taken by those horrible things in life. But as far as Jeremy and I, we understand. On that day 10 yrs ago, something was taken from us. Maybe innocence is the wrong word, but we know now what we did not know then, the USA is not invincible and terrorism can happen anywhere.

It was the day before my birthday, we were both 20 yrs old and had recently gotten married. I was 11 weeks pregnant for Caroline and was excited about my first dr.'s visit that day. Jeremy was woken up by a phone call from a friend in Mandeville telling him that one of the World Trade Center towers had been hit by a plane. We both jumped up and watch the horror unfold on TV. We both had classes that day but I don't remember making it to any of them. We made it to school but ended up watching the TV at the NCM. I know that as I watched all of it, the magnitude did not sink in, it was surreal.

Later that day, we had an appointment. We both saw Caroline on an ultrasound for the first time. We watched her cut flips, seeing her face, then her feet, then her face again. The moment was so precious to us but the dread that hung over it was awful. After the appointment, we looked at each other and we both had the same question. "How could we bring a child into such an awful world?"

I spent the afternoon at work. I worked at the daycare on campus and I think that is when things began to sink in. I remember moms coming in with huge tears in their eyes asking for thier babies. They could not be apart from them that day.

Today, 10 yrs later, I still cry when I see the footage. I am not a political person but I am a patriot. I learned that day how precious freedom is, and I pray each day that I can instill that gratefulness in my children.