10 years

I have spent most of the morning today reading blogs and visiting sites that memorialize victims from 9/11. (Please visit Project 2,996 to remember those we lost) SO much has changed in the last 10 years, so much has stayed the same. The little baby I clutched in my arms that day in 2001 is now a beautiful 10 year old girl. Trying to explain why September 11, 2001 is such an emotional day, and why the anniversary is important can be difficult to explain to my three young children.

I decided this year instead of sharing videos and memorial tributes like I had in the past, we'd keep it simple. I explained that it was a very scary day for Americans - and people around the world. A day where the bad guys won. But only temporarily. We prevailed in the face of this terror. 2,996 people died that day, but heroes were born. I explained that if 2,996 people died - that means thousands and thousands of kids were without a parent, thousands and thousands of parent lost their children. People lost their loved ones, friends, aunts, uncles, cousins. It also began a war that has lasted the decade. August 2011 was the deadliest month of our invasion in Afghanistan yet. While we were lucky that Daddy didn't end up having to go fight this war - and some sources list that over 900,000 people have lost their lives so far. That's a lot of people's lives that have changed forever. So we will take a moment to think of those people that died, and those that survived. Those heroes that charged in when the buildings came down, and those going down on the planes.

In the middle of this discussion it hit me. The explanation may be simple, but nothing about it will ever be.

God Bless the men and women that lost their lives on September 11, 2001. God Bless the men and women that lost their lives fighting for our freedom and safety. God Bless the men and women that are still fighting.

God Bless America.