September 11th is always going to be a date that won't just pass by like normal for me. I don't think that I could ever forget what it felt like that day, in 2001, just watching. Watching lives change forever, people suffering and dying, our country hurting, then inevitably healing.
I wasn't DIRECTLY affected... I wasn't one of the thousands who lost a friend or a relative, my life. I didn't feel the heat of the fires, or the tremors of the explosions. I wasn't one of the ones pictured running for my life, or running to help save another's life. No matter, I was definitely AFFECTED. Besides being a New Yorker, I am lucky enough to be a citizen of the USA. I love our country, and I believe in it. I felt safe here. To have this happen in what felt like my back yard was such a scary realization that we are vulnerable.
We are all vulnerable to extremists, whether we live in the US, or Africa, or Afghanistan -- anywhere. We are all vulnerable, always, no matter where we are.
I was scared on September 11, 2001. I am still scared, and it makes me feel sad. I want to feel safe again, and I want to feel like I can provide my family with the safety that they deserve. I guess the best I can do is educate them, keep them free of ignorance, and teach them tolerance.
So that is what I am going to continue to do, because tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow is September 12th, and it is the anniversary of the day when we started to fix what was broken, and I will never forget.
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