
I always get very emotional on September 11th & will never forget where I was & how I heard about the terror that came that day in 2001! As I know none of you will either. I remember feeling so many emotions, so scared & just traumatized at watching most of it on t.v.
I woke up to my friend Cindy, who is a D.J. on the radio, freaking out on the air. She said something like they thought a terrorist flew a small plane into the World Trade Center. I was half asleep listening to her & realized something big was going on. I jumped out of bed & called my bro Joel, who lived just a block away at the time. We had just moved into our new house & didn't have our cable hooked up yet. I told him to turn on his t.v. He didn't know anything was going on, & then I hear him just keep saying, "oh my gosh, I don't believe this" over & over. I hung up & rushed to his house just in time to see the 2nd plane hit the tower! We looked at each other in complete shock & started freaking out a little. The news anchors had just gotten word that there was, what they thought, a bomb that went off at the Pentagon. As the reporters were talking, we sat in disbelief wondering what was happening to our country! I kept thinking there was going to be all these planes just crashing into St. George, & all over the rest of the country.
I was already late for Massage School & didn't feel like going at this point. I was still trying to comprehend what was happening.
I had worked for SkyWest Airlines & called to see what they thought was going on. It was chaos-- grounding flights, getting hotels for people, trying to help people get home to their loved ones! A friend of mine who worked in dispatch, said it was crazy to see the blank screen of the USA- where normally they'd see hundreds of planes in the air on it.
I couldn't keep my eyes off of the T.V. for days! I couldn't imagine the emotions of the people who were 1st hand witnesses to this wretched crime! I was working at Red Mountain Spa at the time & most of our guests were from New York. It was amazing at how overnight something like this could change the friendliness of people. It was good to see that everywhere you'd go, people were a little nicer, would smile, say "hello" & treat each other like family. Our nation truly pulled together - flags were flown, moments of silence were held, blood was given, & people showed so much respect for America.
I love that I saw flags flying around the neighborhoods today (wish there were more, but it's a start!) I'm so grateful for our freedoms & rights to choose what we believe.
I listened to so many patriotic songs with my kids & the ones written right after 9/11 too. I had dropped Creed off at school, & Treygen & I were singing the "Courtesy of the Red White & Blue" Toby Keith song. My boys love to blast that one! After, I turned it to "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning"- Alan Jackson. Treygen said the cutest thing: "Mom, did you hear what day jus said? - He said hold hans wit a stranga!" He was pretty concerned. I turned my choked up, tear jerker of a face, into a smile & explained to him it was okay- because they were at a church with their families.
It is so sweet & funny what kids pick up on. We have realized we really have to watch what we listen to nowadays!
The other day Creed came in singing "I tried drinking- but it didn't do" (some country song he's heard w/ Jason about getting over a girl) I was shocked & told him it wasn't what he thought it was, it was talking about drinking alcohol, & we probably shouldn't sing that anymore. :) Too Funny, my 5 1/2 year old singing about getting liquored up--WHAT?!?!? I do love that my boys like to sing & be wild (sometimes) like their mom -hehehe!
So, back to my original thought: I am proud to be an American & to know that we can sing, dance, & be just plain crazy because we are FREE!! Thanks to all of those brave people serving our country & those lost from their own heroism. God Bless the USA...........we will never Forget!