Remembering the Loss of Innocence...

I know many are talking about this today and I am fairly certain that there isn’t an American who isn’t at minimum remembering this date. A simple date September 11, prior to 2001 it probably didn’t have much significance. Sure it was a birthday, an anniversary, a first day at a new job for some, but it didn’t really affect all of us. That morning in 2001 the date became engrained in all of us; we can remember just where we were at, and everything that happened after the moment we found out. If we aren’t old enough to remember we are told all about it, our parent’s share where they were at and how it affected them.


For me I have shared my story of where I was at before, senior in high school second hour English class. So today I think I will share how that day has affected me every day since. 9/11/2001 stole from me and from many other Americans a sense of innocence. I was a senior in high school my whole life was ahead of me, I looked at the world through rose colored glasses. I didn’t see the terrible things that went on in other countries and if I did see them I knew they could never happen here.

Since that September day I have never looked at things quite the same, sure I am still at eternal optimists and look for the best in every one. But after that morning in English class a small amount of doubt has always been in the back of my mind. I haven’t taken a plane ride since that I didn’t wonder that I didn’t look around and I hate to say it but possibly pass judgment on an innocent person. I haven’t been in a large crowd and tried to see the quickest way out. I haven’t and will never forget the gut-wrenching feeling that morning brought.

I pray for peace. I pray for the ones lost. I pray for the ones left behind. I pray for our country.

But mostly I just pray that we never face another day as that.