Where were you on September 11th, 2001?

I remember exactly where I was.  It was my Sophomore year of high school, and my English class was growing impatient with the prolonged absence of my teacher.  She had stepped out of the room for a bit to go to the office.  Of course, now I know that she was being briefed by the principal about the attack, and was probably given advice on how to deal with the class.  While she was gone, a few of us had the idea to turn on the TV “to watch Martha Stewart” as I recal thinking to myself.  We flipped it on, and the news reports were on the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS), but I didn’t pay attention to them at first.  I thought they were the regular morning news programs.  When I turned the television over to FOX, the image was surreal.  There was a newscaster holding up a microphone to passers-by on a crowded New York street.  Dense fog was in the background, and out of the fog came a man dressed in a suit, carrying his briefcase, and covered head-to-toe in dust.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Neither could my classmates.  Soon afterward, our teacher came back and made us turn off the tv, and the principal came over the intercom to tell the school what we had already found out:  New York City had been attacked.  The rest of the day I was in a mild state of shock.  All I wanted to do was go home and watch the news.  I couldn’t focus.  I wanted to be with my family.

I am upset with myself today, though.  I had forgotten that it was September 11th until I arrived at work and went through my normal Google news check of the day.  It didn’t even register until then.  Over the past seven years I have slowly slipped back into my casual lifestyle.  I don’t have as much patriotism as I did that day.  I don’t fully appreciate my freedoms as an American like I did that day.  I don’t fully appreciate those with whom I share my life with on a daily basis like I did that day.  I don’t want that to become the norm either.  I watched the news reports on Youtube again today, and they served as a reminder of what it was like to look at a television and have even the faintest thought that everything was about to change.  I will post them here so you can relive that moment in time as well.  I still empathize with those who lost loved ones on that day.

I am thankful for the freedom to worship God, for little league baseball, for watermelon church fellowships (even though I am allergic to watermelon), for stupid television sitcoms, for fireworks and small town picnics on the fourth of july, for youth group canoe trips, for southern sweet tea, and basically for the privilege of God blessing me with a life of privilege that I do not deserve.  I have the best wife I could ever have asked for, I have the best family (including extended family) in the world, I have made friends with the best friends I could have ever wanted, and today I am completely mindful of that.  I am so thankful.

So, where were you on September 11th, 2001? 

Perhaps more importantly, where are you now?