9/11

I'm sitting here thinking about what happened eleven years ago. Our country was changed forever. My life was changed forever. I was a senior in high school, and I remember hearing the news while I was getting ready that morning. My grandma came in and told me to come watch the news for a minute. At first, it seemed like a crazy crash. And then the second plane hit. And the reality set in. How could someone do that to us? How could someone knowingly take so many lives and change so many families? How could someone be so selfish that they didn't care about another living soul? My seventeen year old brain couldn't grasp it. I knew there was evil in the world, but I just couldn't understand how someone could be that evil. When I got to school that morning, all of my teachers had the news playing on their tvs. That's all we did all day. The events kept replaying in my mind. And now, as a teacher, I understand why they did that. History was taking place, and we needed to be aware of what was going on. I remember sitting in seminary, where my teacher canceled his lesson so we could sing hymns and have a mini-testimony meeting. I cried. My dad was a pilot, and I was just thankful he was safe. I didn't know at that point how the events of that September morning would change my family's life forever.

As a teacher, I feel that it is important that my students understand the devastation that came that day. I think they need to know how much it changed our country-- for better and for worse. They need to be aware that their lives are different because of what happened. My seventh graders this year were one when it happened. One. I don't know if they will ever fully understand just how powerful that day was. But I sure hope they do.

And I hope that we never forget the sacrifices that were made on that day to save lives, to save families, and to bring a nation together. I know I never will. I can't, because how can you forget something so powerful?

A teacher I work with shared this video with our faculty. I had never heard this story before, but it was a beautiful reminder of the amazing people that stepped forward when it was needed most. There really are good people in the world.