I can’t believe ten years ago our country was dramatically
affected for the worse. I’ll never
forget watching the 2nd plane hit the 2nd tower live on
TV and watching the towers fall. I
was training with a personal trainer at Gold’s Gym in Spanish Fork and was on
the treadmill. I just remember
seeing that plane hit and I automatically hit the “stop” button on the
treadmill. I couldn’t believe that
things like this would happen in our country. Everyone around me had stopped as well and everyone was
standing in the aerobic area watching.
At school that day the mood was very solemn. I remember all the teachers just watching the news
coverage on TV instead of having our regular classes. I can’t imagine what all the family members of those that
were lost were thinking at that time as well.
One thing that really impressed me was how our country came
together and we were united as one.
I’ve never seen such patriotism in my lifetime and it was really neat to
see everyone rally together to support one another no matter what their
relationship to the tragedy was.
This summer I finally went to New York City for the first
time and visited “Ground Zero”. It
was a month before the Visitor’s Center opened but it was neat to peek through
the fence to see the work in progress.
I really thought it was quite a spiritual place. I really could tell that it was a place
of peace for many people including family and friends of those people who lost
their lives. I really enjoyed
visiting the church across the street that housed a lot of rescue teams during
the recovery efforts. They had a
lot of the banners, mementos, authority badges, pictures, and cards from people
across the country. It was neat to
see it all.
This morning I was waiting for church to start and decided
to watch some of the Ten Year Memorial and opening of the visitor’s
center. They had several people
read off the names of the people that lost their lives that day. After they read off around 10 names,
they would say the name of their loved one that died that day (spouse, parent,
sibling, relative, etc.) and a message to them usually that they loved them and
missed them. It was a really
touching tribute and I even got emotional on a couple of them. The people that planned the event
really did a great job with collecting pictures, names, and bringing all of the
families together to the spot that changed their lives ten years ago.
I’m grateful for our country and the freedom that I enjoy
here. I know our country isn’t
perfect and sometimes the people that run our country aren’t the best, but we
still have the assurance that we are free and we owe that to all the people
that have fought for our freedom and continue to fight for our freedom.
God Bless America
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