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Sunday, September 11, 2011

9.11.11 - Remembering...

Dear Liam,

I knew I wanted to write this letter to you this morning...and also for any future siblings you may have.  I wanted to share an important, yet catastrophic event that took place in mine and daddy's lifetime. 

Ten years ago today, mommy was going to her second class of the morning at the University of North Texas...I had Political Science, which I disliked, much because I was not really into anything politics.  As I walked through the doors to the large auditorium, I saw fire blazing on the large screen at the front of the classroom.  Everyone around me was buzzing around on cell phones...it was a bit chaotic, but then again, class hadn't officially started yet.  I sat down next to a girl who was on her phone crying.  As she put the phone down, I remember asking her what was going on.  She said "the towers have been hit"...

I remember sitting there, watching the terror unfold on the screen.  Class was dismissed a few minutes later.  I remember walking to my car scared, for one because I couldn't get a hold of anyone on the phone, and second because I didn't know what to do...do I pray?  Cry?  Go home?  Go back to my apartment?  Nothing like this had ever touched the fiber of our country...Was I safe?  I finally got a hold of daddy - we had just started dating a month before, and he was at work.  All I knew is I immediately wanted to be in his safe arms.

The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks upon the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C., area on September 11, 2001. On that Tuesday morning, 19 terrorists from the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally crashed two planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. Hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth jet, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to take control before it could reach the hijacker's intended target in Washington, D.C. Nearly 3,000 died in the attacks.

8:46 am - Flight 11 crashes at roughly 466 mph into the north face of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, between floors 93 and 99.

9:03 am - Flight 175 crashes at about 590 mph into the south face of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, banked between floors 77 and 85.


9:37 am - Flight 77 crashes into the western side of the Pentagon

9:59 am - The South Tower of the World Trade Center begins to collapse

10:03 am - United Airlines Flight 93 is crashed by its hijackers and passengers, due to fighting in the cockpit 80 miles (129 km) southeast of Pittsburgh

10:28 am - The North Tower of the World Trade Center begins to collapse   

As I remember that day, I remember the families that were broken, the immeasurable loss - our country's tears.  The bold, courageous responders that risked their lives to save others.  The military, who continue to fight, for our safety...for our freedom...thank you.   The deep sorrow and sympathy that pours out for those who were lost that day...and those that had to lose that day.

Liam, I want you know that, even despite how incomprehensible the attacks were, God is still good, He still has a plan...for us, and for our country.  I want to tell you how much closer it brought your daddy and I...and your grandparents and I too.   Ten years later, I want you to know, that while our past may shape us, it does not define us.  I also want to tell you that we will never forget, but we can choose to forgive.

So on this 10 year anniversary of 9.11.01, my prayer, my child, is that you will never experience such an event, ever in your lifetime.  But that you would know that you are blessed and privileged to live in the United States of America...our country is strong, and with God on our side, evil shall not overcome.

9.11.01 - We remember....

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