Quote of the Day:  “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” — Abraham Lincoln

Today is an important day on our Journey to 2020.  Today, nine and a half years later, I sit next to my nine-year old daughter and tell her the story of what happened on September 11, 2001.  Believe it or not, I have kept the horrific details of that tragic day away from her.  She has heard of terrorists, she understands there are horrible wars being fought on lands far away, she understands that America is fighting a war on terrorism, but, until today, she did not know what Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda did to our country.

Do you remember where you were the morning of September 11?  Of course, you do.  We all do.  The cats were unusually restless and woke “us” at 6:00 a.m.  There was no small child yet, though the Bean was starting to sprout.  Those who know me know that I will never willingly get out of bed at 6:00 a.m., however, on that day, I did.  Then the phone rang.  I knew immediately it wasn’t going to be good news.  It was my friend, Lisa, from D.C. calling, “turn on the news”.  The first tower had already been hit, and, Paula Zahn was announcing it was a small plane.  As she spoke, the view behind her was of the twin towers with smoke billowing out of the first.  I stared in disbelief; the unthinkable was approaching the second tower.  I watched in real-time as the jetliner smash into the second tower.  I thought how surreal life had just become.  I contemplated turning off the television.  I was one month pregnant in what I’ll simply describe as a very sensitive pregnancy.  This was so horrific and tragic, I didn’t want these emotions filtering through by body and soul.  But, I didn’t turn off the television.  In fact, I could do nothing, but, watch for the next week.

I also shared with my daughter the story of one victim that hit very close to home.  Our friend and contractor was at the house the morning of the attack.  He and I sat in silence waiting to hear the news.  His nephew was a financial planner for Cantor Fitzgerald.  He arrived every morning that week and we watched.  One morning, he called.  He would not be coming today.  It had been confirmed, his nephew had been killed.  What hit me the hardest was that his nephew’s wife was also expecting.  Her now nine-year old never got to meet her father.  Counting my blessings.

My husband flew into D.C. last night minutes before President Obama made the announcement….Osama Bin Laden was dead.  Bryan was able to join the thousands of revelers just after midnight at the White House.  He described it as a moment of  beautiful mayhem that he will never forget.  Americans coming together in celebration that terror and evil did not prevail.

[I wrote this blog in May of this year.  As I sit at home tonight, hours away from the event that changed all of our lives forever, I still wonder how to share this information with my child.  She is now 9 1/2 years old  and understands that terrorists attacked our country and many people died.  However, she still has not seen the vivid images and events of that day.  I am debating whether or not she should see the raw terror that we all saw and felt on that day.   I think I will continue to shield her from the vision of the falling towers.  God bless America and may everyone strive to live in peace and harmony…it really isn’t that hard.]