Remembering September 11th

It is hard to believe that it has been 10 years since our country was attacked! That is a day that I will never forget! I was teaching third grade and another teacher came to my classroom door. She waved me into the hallway and whispered to me what was going on. With shock and tears in my eyes, I went back to my 22 innocent and oblivious students. Our principal wanted us to check our email but say nothing to our students. We were to go about the day as if nothing had happened. There were a few parents that chose to get their kids out of school early but for the most part the day went like all was normal. However, it was anything but normal. For days, I watched in shock and disbelief as the news stations covered the tragedy. I cried over all of the personal stories of loss and heroism that were shared. I will always remember that day!! The song that Alan Jackson wrote shortly after that horrible day, "Where were you when the world stopped turning?", was so fitting and relateable to so many. As one of the lines in the song says--I actually was "teaching a class full of innocent children." 

Three years later, on a trip to New York city, I visited Ground Zero. It was a truly humbling experience. I took these pictures...

This was along the fence that closed in ground zero.

This was a building nearby where the towers once stood.

This next picture  is "The Sphere " that once stood in the open area between the two towers. After being recovered from the rubble, it was relocated to Battery Park. An eternal flame burns next to it as a memorial to the victims of 9/11... 

Since firefighters in the NYFD were some of the many heroes that fateful day, we wanted to take our picture with some firemen from the department on our visit. 

Here is my Mama and me--in front of the foggy New York skyline. The skyline that was missing the Twin Towers.

I have been watching the history channel the last week or so. It is still a shocking event to revisit. I still cry when I watch a lot of the personal stories or hear recordings left behind. Still can't imagine what those directly affected have gone through.
At church this morning, our pastor preached an amazing sermon. It was so fitting-- it was about HOPE.
The message was essentially this: "What breath is to the physical body, hope is to the human spririt!"
I am sure glad our country never gives up hope!