SEPTEMBER 11 - I REMEMBER

September 11 is a day that none of us will ever forget. When I think back to 9-11 I remember exactly what I was doing and how I heard the news. I hadn't turned the television on when my phone rang. My sister, who lives in Ohio, was calling. Turn on the television, she said. A plane just flew into the World Trade Center. As I turned on Fox News, I could hear them say it was apparently a large plane that had struck the Trade Center. I immediately began calling family members. Is everyone ok? Have we heard from my youngest brother (who travels frequently to New York). I knew he was scheduled to go to New York for a day that week, but couldn't remember if it was Tuesday or Wednesday.

Then the second plane hit, and we all knew for certain that our world had changed forever. As I watched in horror, I heard about the plane hitting the Pentagon. Then came the word that a plane had crashed near Somerset. I had grown up in the Western Pennsylvania area, and until moving to Florida in 1999, had lived just about 40 miles from Somerset. The rage that I felt that morning soon gave way to incredible sorrow, for the lives lost,then I began to feel great pride and thanks for the heroic firemen, policemen and every day people at ground zero, for the heroes at the Pentagon, for the incredibly brave passengers of Flight 93.

My love of my country and our people had never been stronger, as we stood shoulder to shoulder with our neighbors and sang God Bless America. We were so united in the days after 9-11. I was sure that nothing would divide us again. We would surely recognize that we were in the fight of our lives, and when America was united, no foe could defeat us. I still believe that.