September 11th, 2001

Sorry, came out slightly more graphic than I intended it to, but this is the day as I remember it.

Should've been a normal day.
I should've gone to school, come home,
And had my regular cheerleading practice
But instead, September 11th, 2001.
Changed all of our lives, forever.
Even when I'm 92 and nearly senile
I don't think I'll ever forget
The images I saw that day
Thirteen years old
Too young to comprehend
Just how much evil there truly is in this world
Too young to understand
Why no one could explain what was going on
Too innocent to fathom
Three thousand, and some only a few miles away from home.
Dead.
Never coming home.
Sister was away at school...
Panick in our hearts and in our minds.
No cell phone towers were working
Even Aunt Lola was worried
But selfishly, I have to admit
I was old enough to understand
That our lives would never be the same
I came home from school that day
I had no idea what was going on
For all I knew, the local mall had been bombed.
Mom and dad, crying on the couch.
Dad recovering from a cyst removal on his back
Lucky, for once, to have been out of work that fall
And specifically, that particular morning
Watching CNN
The timeline of the day
The first tower is burning
9:03 am
The second tower.
Flames, people running, hysteria...
Hysteria over a city that I love
People I know...
Their sisters, their brothers, their fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins & more...
Gone.
Today, 8 years later
The tears still fall as I write
My tears fall for the fallen
For the daughters who never met their fathers
For the turn this country has taken since
For the fallen who have defended and
Those who continue to defend our freedom
Today the pain, the fear, in my heart
Still hurts the same.
But the pride, swells more and more every day
I'd like for anyone to tell me
I'm not an American.
I was there, I pledged my allegiance, I love MY country
I love it's fallen soldiers, marines, and all those who defend us
I honor those who continue to defend us
And tomorrow we will continue to rise as a unified country
To rise against injustice
To rise against this economy
To rise against a government
And a war, which is failing us
To rise against a world where
People would rather terrify us
Than to let us live in peace
Today we mourn, we cry, we feel for those
Victims, families, and our defenders of freedom
Tomorrow, we will rise and be renewed
This is the United States
We are Americans
United, we stand
Divided, we fall.

God Bless.

Blake