Where were you when...

... the World Trade Center fell?

On 9/11 2001 I was living in a little rental house in Ames, Iowa.  It had wood floors and a small fireplace in the living room.  My fiance (now ex-husband) was out of town on a job interview.  I was doing relief work in Des Moines, and was not scheduled for work that day.  My sister was studying abroad in Wales.  My uncle, who was the highest ranking civilian in the Army Corp of Engineers at that time, had an office in the Pentagon.  He was traveling on business that week.  I was enjoying a lazy morning at home when I got the phone call.

Turn on the television.  It was the only phrase that came out of his mouth.  I watched in stunned silence as the acts of a "religious" terrorist organization attempted to destroy my country.  I couldn't move.  I couldn't eat.  I was paralyzed.  Many, many hours later he called again.  Turn off the television, he urged, you need to step away from this for a while.  My head hurt from crying and from staring at the television for hours on end.  I couldn't process what was happening.  Who would do this?  My faith in humanity began to crumble. 

The next morning I went for a walk through campus town.  It was completely deserted.  I wanted to buy a newspaper.  Newsstands were empty.  I had to search several streets before I found what I was looking for.  There was no one out.  No carefree students wandering around Mill Ave in search of the perfect cup of coffee.  No one laughing.  No one enjoying the beautiful fall day. 

I came home with 3 papers.  The Des Moines Register proclaimed that Bush Vows to Strike Back.  The Iowa State Daily headline ran Terror Hits Home.  The Tribune had a photo of the firefighters raising the American flag over the wreckage.  America Endures.  It became our focus.  Enduring.  We banded together as a country and vowed to pick ourselves up and move on.  We grew stronger.  We went back to our roots to evaluate our values and what is important.  We reached out to family and friends.  Wounds began to heal. 

On the eve of the 10 year anniversary, I review the papers I picked up on September 12, 2001. 

Things changed in America on 9/11, 2011.  We were challenged to remember our heritage and what we stood for.  We were challenged to define our loyalty to the United States of America, and remember the freedoms that we fight for.  I fear that as time has gone on, we have forgotten the tragedy of that September morning.  Every evening on the news, someone new is complaining about  security measures at the airport.  Someone is complaining about the money and time being spent to secure our borders. 

I have not forgotten.  I will not forget and I will not take for granted the freedoms that I have because I am a citizen of the United States of America.  I am lucky because my great, great grandparents immigrated here along with the masses through Ellis Island.  They were brave and sought a better life at a time when our country was new and thousands came from Europe.  Because of them, my great grandparents, my grandparents, and my parents were born on US soil.  I was born and raised in the Midwest.

And in order to protect my freedoms, if I need to stand in an xray scanner to travel on an airplane, so be it.  You will never hear me complain.  If you need me to remove my shoes, or my coat, or take the liquids out of my bag; you will never hear me complain.  If we need to close the border, if we need to crack down on illegal immigration, if we want to question those without a US passport, so be it.  This is my country.  This is our country.  Are you going to stand up for it?  Or will you let the deaths of everyone on 9/11 be in vain?  Will you complain that your freedoms are violated and yet cry when the next time around, it is someone that you love who is lost? 

I don't mean to get political.  OK, who am I kidding, of course I do.  I just feel very passionately about my country and protecting it.  Without passion, and patriotism, we would not have moved on and moved forward. 

My heart is heavy remembering the events of September 11, 2001.  The loss of life.  The tragedy.  The unspeakable violence.  But this is America.  We are strong.  We are one nation under God.  Indivisible.  With liberty and justice for all.