Visiting and Remembering

On Thursday we stopped in Cheyenne WY and paid a visit to some friends of ours. Kaitlynn got to meet "Grandma and Grandpa Bear." They live just outside of Cheyenne and have a few acres, so Kaitlynn had a bit of space to run around on. By the time we left she was more than ready to go to bed.

All day Kaitlynn wanted to see the mountains, when we told her she was on the mountain she didn't quite understand. We left Cheyenne and moved on up the mountain to the top of Sherman's Pass where we spent the night. It had been nearly 80 degrees during the day but dropped into the 40's that night.

I woke up early enough take a walk and see the sun rise. While enjoying the mountain air I spent some time in quiet reflection, Remembering 9-11, and Thanking God for the beautiful morning. I knew that I would be without Internet most of the day and I thought about what I wanted to post for most of the day. I thought I wanted to say something real profound that would reflect how I felt 8 years later, but every time I started typing my mind went blank and tears came to my eyes. I guess that is not what I was supposed to write.

So I think I will just tell you what I remember about 9-11-01.

My day started off like any other day, I was going downstairs to make Colin (age 14months at the time) pancakes for breakfast. When I turned on the TV I thought their was some sort of movie on. After seeing the second plane hit the South Tower and hearing the kaoss that followed, I realized it was a news report and this was happening.

I was shocked, terrified and horrified all at the same time. I immediately picked up the phone to call Herb. He was in Trout dale Oregon and asleep. I had to call him several times before he picked up the phone. He thought I was joking when I told him someone had flown a plane into The World Trade Center and was waiting for the punch line.

When he understood I was serious he went into the truck stop to see the news for himself. We talked and cried on the phone for quite awhile. He then called dispatch to figure out how and when he could get home. He managed to get a load and headed home. It was a long two days waiting for him to get there.

I kept the news on all day trying to find out what was going on. It never occurred to me that Colin was watching it also until several days later when they started allowing aircraft to fly again. While we were outside talking to Grandma and Grandpa an airplane flew over and Colin started crying and pointing to the plane saying; "boom, boom". He was terrified. I talked to him and explained it as best I could to a toddler. Still it was nearly a year before airplanes no longer frightened him.

To this day I still cry when I think about the events of that day. I haven't been able to read articles, or books written in remembrance, nor am I able to watch programs dedicated to 9-11. It just hurts too much. My heart breaks for the senseless loss of life.

We must never forget what happened on American soil and Every day appreciate the Freedoms that we have.

Thank you to all the Men and Women serving in the Military, here and abroad.

Thank you to all the Police, Medics and Firefighters who put their lives on the like every single day.

God Bless America