I was getting gas for the tractor at a little station on a country road, and glanced up at the TV to see the burning Twin Towers. I just thought it was a tragic accident, and went back to work. As I listened to the radio I heard that they fell and heard the words “terrorist attacks.“ The thing is, I just didn’t know what to think. No one in America knew what to think.
We didn’t know how many lives would be lost. We didn’t know that the innocence of America was lost that day too. We didn’t know how many first responders running to the scene would be lost. We didn’t know that the whole world changed that day. We didn’t know that war was coming. We didn’t know how many more would be lost in that war. We didn’t know how people would try to politicize it for their gain. We didn’t know the other attacks and attempted attacks we would have to live through. We didn’t know how fear and looking over our shoulder and being suspicious would become a way of life. We didn’t know everything was going to be different, but it was. We just didn’t know.
We also didn't know how America would come together. We didn't know how many would enlist to serve and protect. We didn't know the unity it would bring.
The truth is we never know what each day is going to hold. We like to think we are in control and we have things figured out, but all of us are one phone call away from having our lives turned upside down. So we can either live in fear that a call is going to come, or that an attack might happen again, or we can live faithfully in the moment we are in.
America promised to “Never Forget” those lost that day, and 25 years later we are doing just that. There is still much that we still don’t know, but we know that together we can get through it.
