Patriotism Becomes Me

I woke up this morning much the same way I did 6 years ago this very same morning - to a phone call. This time it wasn't Grama McCorkle on the phone telling me that we were "under attack", which I was finding difficult to believe in the state of half-sleep I was still in. As it turns out, she was absolutely right and I had wished I was still asleep having a terrible dream. I immediately ran to my son's room and turned on his radio to AM 640 to hear if they had any updates. They did and the picture it painted in my mind is embedded there still. The DJ was watching the events unfold on TV and giving a "play-by-play" report. I was waking up much more quickly now, still unable to grasp the what I was being told. I tuned in around 8:55 and @ 9:03 the second tower was hit. I was still just getting my bearings on the situation and it was already TWICE as bad! It had to be a bad dream. As I listened, now glued to the stereo, clinging to my boy, I heard reports of people jumping from the top floors of the doomed towers. I was feeling a plethoric wash of emotion, not justified by words. At 9:40, all planes in the entire contiguous states are grounded for the first time ever in aviation history. At 9:43, AA flight 77 hits the Pentagon. At 10:05, the South Tower crumbles to the ground. As the reports are relayed, I have barely had time to digest one devastation when another is right on its tail. Now, the snowball is rolling downhill fast... At 10:10, both the Pentagon collapses and Flight 93 is downed in a rural area of Pennsylvania. The onslaught of horror continued in the minutes and hours following as the North Tower collapsed and many more precious souls were lost. Once Americans realized what was going on, there was a surge of national pride unparalleled in recent history. Flags were everywhere. Churches were full. Displays of sympathy and affection were plenty and prominent. From the ashes flowered the beauty of our great country and its people. The rhetoric immediately following the attacks was strong and bold. Partisanship took a backseat to a unified front for revenge. Six years later we have fallen back into the stupor of normalcy and bickering that I sometimes find frightening, other times inspiring. May we never forget what it has costs to attain and maintain the freedoms we carelessly enjoy! Never forget where we've come from and that nothing is certain except for God! Thank you for reading and may God bless you and may God bless this great nation, America.