I spent the past two hours watching CNN and Fox News, preceded by a moment of prayer at church. I hope most of us take some time today to think about what happened eight years ago and how it changed our lives.
I was so shaken by those events when they happened. For weeks, I spent hours a day watching CNN and Fox, constantly checking those same sites on the web, waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. I remember the Saturday or Sunday after, when planes were again allowed to fly. I was doing sit-ups at the gym and saw a plane fly overhead. I stopped cold. For months, I found myself watching planes, almost waiting for them to fly into buildings. I just reread my post from last year and, not surprisingly, I said some of these same things. They just stick with you.
I continue to try to watch programs about 9/11. There was just one last week. I especially appreciate hearing about people who were directly affected, those who still mourn the loss of their loved ones. Watching video from when President Bush was told of the attacks is particularly gripping to me. I don't think Bush will go down as a great president, but I truly felt he was a great president during the days, weeks, and probably months following 9/11. Fox News reported today his approval rating at that time was the highest a president had ever had. I can still hear him say, "We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail."
I believe America is safer today than that day, but it did not come without a price to our freedom. But, as the saying goes, freedom is never free.
May God bless America, particularly today the victims of 9/11, their loved ones, and those who helped and continue to help keep us safe.
Never forget.
I was so shaken by those events when they happened. For weeks, I spent hours a day watching CNN and Fox, constantly checking those same sites on the web, waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. I remember the Saturday or Sunday after, when planes were again allowed to fly. I was doing sit-ups at the gym and saw a plane fly overhead. I stopped cold. For months, I found myself watching planes, almost waiting for them to fly into buildings. I just reread my post from last year and, not surprisingly, I said some of these same things. They just stick with you.
I continue to try to watch programs about 9/11. There was just one last week. I especially appreciate hearing about people who were directly affected, those who still mourn the loss of their loved ones. Watching video from when President Bush was told of the attacks is particularly gripping to me. I don't think Bush will go down as a great president, but I truly felt he was a great president during the days, weeks, and probably months following 9/11. Fox News reported today his approval rating at that time was the highest a president had ever had. I can still hear him say, "We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail."
I believe America is safer today than that day, but it did not come without a price to our freedom. But, as the saying goes, freedom is never free.
May God bless America, particularly today the victims of 9/11, their loved ones, and those who helped and continue to help keep us safe.
Never forget.
Comments
Fred Honsberger posted a video on FB that showed what happened later that day or maybe the next day. The footage from the plane crash, the towers collapsing, etc., is pretty clear in my mind. But I tend to forget that it took months to clean everything up. I read an entry in my journal from 10/01 that the site was still smoldering. I had forgotten about that.