September 11th

Today is September 11th. 8 years have passed. And the emotions are still raw. I guess I will never forget that morning. The morning when our world starting crashing down around us. Joe and I were getting ready. I had a big exam later that day. Which was strange. We had only been in school for a little over 2 weeks. Joe was trying to get out of the house. He was running late that morning.

I had the news on. As usual, I was sitting at my vanity trying to put my makeup on. Only halfway paying attention to the local AM news. I don't remember what the stories were that day. But I do remember when GMA began and immediately cut into the footage of the Twin Towers. Joe had just walked into our bedroom to kiss me goodbye. He was talking about what time he would be home. Then he just stopped. I looked up, and saw the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower.

How can you forget that? We sat there together watching the TV. The reporters were almost as stunned as we were. What could we do? I remember sitting there with Joe. He held me. And for hours, we sat like that watching the coverage. Our university had cancelled classes until further notice. J called Joe to tell him that they had the animals taken care of at school. And you could hear the fighter jets all day. We have 2 military bases nearby. The jets kept flying around. At one point, we went outside. And the National Guard helicopters were flying very low to the ground. We felt like we were in the middle of a war zone.

Every year, that feeling comes back. No matter how much time passes. It comes back. That feeling of helplessness and fear. And then, I think of all those people who lost their lives that day. And the brave souls that have lost their lives since, fighting for our freedom. Today is a day to truly honor all of those people we have lost. One day, I will share my story with my kids. We will pull out the videos of the coverage. And we will talk about 9/11.

But today, it is the day to honor all of those brave souls. It is a day to say Thank You to our military. We are lucky enough to live near 2 bases. And we have many friends who are serving and defending our country. Today is a day to Thank them and remember what they do. We are going to proudly wear our yellow ribbons. We are going to sit as a family and watch the coverage. And remember the amazing people that were taken from us. Because we will never forget! ♥Anna Marie♥