It's been 20 years since the world changed. Or should I say the world stood still.
I lived in The Salt Lake Valley in Utah on that day, September 11, 2001. I can remember most of that morning, as we first were confused by a "small plane" hitting the first tower, and then utterly shocked when a second plane hit the other tower. We knew we were under attack. Two more planes went down that day, one into The Pentagon, the other into the countryside in Pennsylvania.
Where I lived was on the flight path for the Salt Lake International Airport and the next few weeks were so eerie, as plane traffic halted. It was weird. We, as Americans, were in shock. We didn't know how anybody could hate us so much as to attack us in such a horrific way.
As I reflect on that time, I am always reminded how such a tragedy united us. There were no colors, no religions, no divisions, we were Americans and we came together. We were proud to fly the flag and we changed. We looked out for our neighbor a bit more and we related to each other. This is something I miss now. I miss the America we were on September 12th. I miss patriotism. I feel like we have lost what it truly means to be American and proud, because how dare you be proud of being part of something so privileged. Truth be told, I am proud and I am not ashamed. How wonderful to live in a place where I get to chose my destiny and I also have a voice.
Now, we have lost quite a bit of our pride and we are very divided. My biggest hope and prayer today is that we somehow find a way to look past our divisions. That we can see eye to eye on the basics and can be like the America we were twenty years ago. It will take work, but it is necessary to keep our republic going. Do not be quiet and let your freedoms be taken away, because I feel those wonderful freedoms this great country was founded on are fragile and many of those freedoms are slowly being taken from us.
Today I am proud to wear my gear from a great company: Nine-Twelve United. Check them out HERE.
My shirt is this one:
