Never forget - 9/11

So with everyone commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, I thought I would share some of my own personal memories and reflections on the day as well.

Like virtually everyone else, I remember vividly where I was when all of this went down.  I had gone to my first class hearing about the first plane hitting.  At the time I thought it was a random accident.  That morning class happened to be a religion class and we had said a prayer for those people.  I came home from that class only to learn that something much bigger was happening.  The rest of the day then became a blur of disbelief, sadness, confusion, and fear.  Living in my fraternity house at that time, I had friends and roommates who lived in areas directly affected by these attacks.  To say there was a wide range of emotions displayed by these people is an understatement.  I did my best, in whatever small way possible to help everyone come together united in our grief, yet also our patriotism to help get through this terrible tragedy.

Now 10 years later, I'm struck by so many things that have resulted because of those attacks.  It truly changed our country and the world at large forever.  While things like multiple endless wars are difficult to endure, there have been small ways where a horrific incident like this has caused people to change for the better.  At church today, I was moved by the message of forgiveness that was at the center of the sermon.  Of course none of us will ever forget what happened on this day back in 2001, but for us to actually move on and improve things in this world, we have to find ways to forgive others.  Harboring ill will only leads to more hate - something we don't need.  Let's hope we can continue to unite in ways that strengthen our communities, our country and the world as a whole.  That's the only way we'll ever truly win a war against terrorism.

Lastly, I'll post this video from the first live entertainment gathering that occurred after the attacks.  It's the opening moments of WWE Smackdown.  Specifically it's then ring announcer Lillian Garcia's rendition of the National Anthem.  Being the terrific singer that she is, she always does a wonderful version of this song, but on that particularly night her performance was particularly stirring, causing anyone to get goosebumps listening to it.