Never Forget

I can't believe it's been 5 years. It flew by. 5 years since I woke up with my 2 month old son next to me, turned on the television and realized something horrible happened. 5 years since my brother called me and said point blank, 'we're at war now'. It's mind numbing to believe how quickly things changed in these 5 years. Not just for me but for every American, every person, living in America. We were now targets. Our children, our families, our country. Anyone who knows me knows I am extremely patriotic. I've always been proud to call myself an American and proud of the opportunities this country provides for not only it's citizens but people who come from other countries and want to call America home. That day, I sat glued to the television, intermittently crying and waiting. Waiting to hear it was all a mistake. This couldn't have happened here. Not in the U.S. Who would have the nerve to do this? Like many other Americans, I had grown comfortable, thinking no one would have the gall to attack us, one of the strongest if not THE strongest nation in the world. Now, 5 years later, I realize we are not invulnerable. If someone wants to get to us, they will do their damnedest. So we have to be prepared for the worst and just pray it never happens again. We keep our children a little closer, tell our families we love them more often. My brother is in Iraq and will be for the next year. He's been in the Army for 18 years and the thought of ever losing him to a war never crossed my mind. Now the thought is there. Lurking there in the back of mind though I try to ignore it. I pray more often, I'm more cautious out in public. I avoid going to San Francisco especially on major holidays. What better time to strike than when there's people gathered to celebrate?
So on this, the 5 year anniversary of 9/11, I am still grateful and immensely proud to be an American. I pray that this war will be over soon and ALL of our service men and women will come home safe and sound. And that they will be honored as the heroes they are. That we will never forget why we are there. I pray that we will never forget what happened on that awful day 5 years ago. And that we will always remember that it is because our men and women volunteer to serve our country that we remain free and safe.