Blessings

We have been so lucky this last week!! We have found: a place to live, couches, and a bed for our apartment...for very cheap!! The furniture was free...needs a little cleaning, but are in very good condition. Plus, we found an apartment that is great rent and quite nice, with a lot of space! Someone has been watching out for us this week. :)

And, on another note, the words to a song that has been significant this week:

I hear people saying we don't need this war
But, I say there's some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground
We didn't get to keep 'em by backing down
They say we don't realize the mess we're getting in
Before you start your preaching let me ask you this my friend

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away.
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And we vowed to get the ones behind bin Laden.
Have you forgotten?

I've been there with the soldiers
Who've gone away to war
And you can bet that they remember
Just what they're fighting for.

Have you forgotten all the people killed?
Yeah, some went down like heroes in that Pennsylvania field.
Have you forgotten about our Pentagon?
All the loved ones that we lost and those left to carry on
Don't you tell me not to worry about bin Laden
Have you forgotten?



I will never forget where I was that day.
7th Grade. Coach Kockler's Social Studies class.
He took the time to explain to us what had happened.
He talked to us like grownups.
He told us what this could mean for our country.
He told us to pray for the people involved.
He told us that our country would never be the same.
He told us that it would bring us together as a people; that we would unite in sympathy.
He told us that now, more than ever, we needed to be the best person that we could be. We were the ones who were going to grow up in this changed mindset, and we were the ones who would be running the country in 30 years.
I was profoundly touched by his explanation, and the fact that he felt we need to know. This was 7th period, almost the end of the day. Up until this point, not a single teacher had decided to explain to us what was going on. We could feel the tension, the worry in all of the teachers, but no one let us in on what had happened.

I went home and made sure that Dad wasn't flying his American job that day.
I went home and talked to my mom about what I had heard. We watched the news together. It was the first time I remember being captivated by the news.
Uncle Brad and Aunt Button couldn't get home to San Diego because the airlines shut down. They had to rent a car and drive.

For weeks...months afterward, we heard about bin Laden, Hussein, and many other terrorists.

Our lives changed.
Dad was furloughed from his job because people were afraid to fly.
My uncle was deployed to Afghanistan.
My cousin was deployed to Afghanistan.
As a country, we feared another attack.
As a country, we banded together and were unified in making sure this didn't happen again.
Airport security became a nightmare.
Border security became a nightmare.
We heard updates on "The War on Terror" as regularly as I'm sure people did in the "Cold War."
Our country feared nuclear warfare. Biological warfare.
Many people sent brothers, husbands, fathers to the Middle East, worried about their safety.
People put yellow ribbons on trees and cars and pins.

But still, our lives continued on.
Babies were born. People married. People died. Jobs were lost and gained. Friends were found. Family members spent more time with each other.
Life went on.

Until, eventually, we forgot the details of that day. We forgot how piercing the feelings were on September 11, 2001. We forgot just how upset we were that someone would do this to our country. We forgot how incensed we were. We forgot about the sacrifices that so many people made. We forgot about the heroism we saw, in firefighters and rescue workers and policemen and regular people. We forgot about the families that were still in mourning for their loved ones.

It faded from our minds. And that is why I think this song is so appropriate.

We must not forget. If we forget history, it will repeat itself. We must remember how we banded together as a people. If we stay unified like that, we will be better able to handle anything that comes in our way. We will be a happier people. We will serve each other more. We will be kinder. We will not let past mistakes recur over and over again.

We will remember.