I am remembering today how scary it was, watching those planes slam into the Twin Towers. I couldn't understand the motivations of the people involved. The smoke was billowing out of windows all over the structure and I remember wondering how they were going to put it out.
Because, in my mind, there was a 0% chance that the Good Guys wouldn't win in the end. I dropped my girlfriend off and went back to my house to watch the rest of the story unfold. But by then, the Towers had both fallen and I was watching a replay of the event on loop. I wasn't alone.
Gas prices soared, in some places as much as an increase of $2.60 in one day. People panicked, not knowing how to make ends meet with perishable goods they would lose money transporting to be sold. There was a moment when we didn't seem to know if more planes would start crashing into buildings all over the country. I spoke with college-bound students who were afraid that the U.S. would bring back the draft.
The chaos reached everyone, I think, on some level. But then one day I was in the grocery store and everyone was singing 'God Bless America' and 'America the Beautiful.' They were passing out pamphlets with patriotic hymns and images of the flag. There was a palpable shift, at least in my hometown, from 'FEARFUL' to 'PURPOSEFUL.'
If you know a firefighter, a paramedic, a nurse, a doctor, soldier, sailor, marine, coast guard, airman- please thank them. Thank them for something that is personal to you, if you can. For me, I am someone who would be dead if not for the constant attention a team of nurses paid me when I was hospitalized in Mexico. I would be dead. So, when time permits, I tell a nurse about my life and how grateful I am that they are doing what they do.
Good Patriot's Day!
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