9.11.2006 we will never forget

We went to bed on September 10, 2001 not knowing that the next morning we would awake to a different world. As the tragic events of September 11, 2001 unfolded, we watched with shock, horror, sadness, disbelief and anger as planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in rural Pennsylvannia, all the result of a terrorist attack. We remained glued to the television as scenes flased across the screen that looked like special effects from a Hollywood movie. Images of planes ripping through the Twin Towers and the ensuing eruption of flames and smoke are something we'll never forget. I finally broke down sobbing when an hour or so after the first plane hit the Towers, one of the defining features of the New York City skyline, collapsed and crumbled, showering the streets below with twisted metal, broken concrete, paper scraps and office furniture. When they came down, we saw the people who had gotten out running for their lives, trying to escape the clouds of smoke and debris blasting through the canyons of lower Manhattan. In the aftermath, while we still mourned the more than three thousand lives lost on that day, our emotions turned from sadness to pride, patriotism and honor. We have heard stories of the heroic acts of NYC firefighters and policemen who rushed in to help, passengers on the airplanes who lost their lives to save others and people all over the world who donated blood and money to help the victims and their families. Our lives have been forever changed. Security has been tightened, our innocence has been lost and we are at war. But we are also closer and more unified as a nation and a people, determined to create a world where this will never happen again.