9/11 Tribute.. Never Forget.

I still can't see pics from that time without vividly remembering it like it was yesterday and crying every bit as hard.. 

(I did not create this video or song. Found on YouTube.)

At 20 years old, it was the first time that my eyes were fully opened to what a dark place the world could be. But I also got to see how unified our country could be, in the days that followed. I still get goosebumps thinking about that part.. My, how far we've fallen since then. How far this country has divided and drifted apart. And it's not because of politics. We've turned our backs on what is most important in this world, in LIFE, to focus on things that don't matter. 

When I was a kid, I could never understand how adults could remember where they were and exactly what they were doing on significant days in history.. Until that day. I can still tell you exactly where I was, what I was doing, what my daddy was doing, even what my sweet then 2 year old Michael and I were wearing. I'll never forget... I don't think any of us will..

Every year on this day, I click a link like this one and I wonder if this will be the year that I can look at the pictures in them and not sob. And every year thus far, I haven't been able to. I honestly don't think I ever will be able to.

I remember waking up and rolling over next to my sleeping Michael, who was 2 years old at the time and snuggled up on me. I glanced at the TV and was overcome with fear and doubt. I remember looking at his sweet innocent little face and wondering what the hell kind of cruel world I had brought him into. I ran my hand over his hair, kissed his forehead, slowly pulled my arm from under his head and went into the living room to see my dad. He was already up and at the kitchen table prepping a sure to be delicious breakfast.

I asked if he knew what was going on and he told me a plane had accidentally hit one of the towers. Suddenly I saw the second plane hit and I shouted for him. He told me they were just replaying the footage. I told him "No! LOOK!"

As he realized what had actually happened, and as we watched the towers fall.. the look on his face... I will NEVER forget that look for as long as I live. I can still see it now, as if he were right in front of me. I knew it was baaaad because my daddy was shaken and my Superman didn't shake easily. We sat and watched all morning in silence and disbelief.. I remember saying something about stuff falling from the tower windows and my dad telling me "those are people jumping, hun".. you can't ever unsee something like that. It's etched in your brain forever.

I was one of the lucky ones that didn't lose a loved one that day. But still I mourn(ed) deeply. I stopped on my way to work the next morning and bought every red, white, and blue carnation I could find. As I left the store, the gas station, and even outside of my work, I stood and handed them out to strangers. Some smiled. Some cried. Some hugged me. Some prayed with me. I'll NEVER forget those moments.

The rest of that day (and the days that followed), I remember the fear, the disbelief, the sadness.. I had never seen so many people shaken. No one was immune to it. A whole Nation torn..

But what rose from that was one of the most AMAZING things I've felt in all my years. Love. Hope. Strength. Unity. Pride. We, as a Nation, were truly ONE. You could FEEL all of those things in the air just buzzing around you. So real, I was convinced I could reach out and touch that feeling.

Strangers were helping each other. Strangers were smiling at each other. Can you imagine that? THAT is what this country needs to get back to! Screw color, screw gender, screw sexual orientation. We need to get back to LOVE... To UNITY... To ONE NATION, UNDER GOD. Because you know what? If we just get back to love, then color, gender, sexual orientation, etc, means nothing. Because where there is love, there is light. And when there is light, the darkness doesn't stand a chance...

Today, I pray for everyone who's life was affected in any way. For those that lost loved ones, for those brave men and women who ran in to help and will have those images forever ingrained in their memories, and for those like me that lost no one but still deeply mourn the day..

Let's get back to our TRUE greatness, America. 

Smile at one another, even strangers, FOR NO REASON AT ALL other than to share and spread joy and love. Our country, our WORLD needs more of that. 

Compliment each other. 

Be there for each other. 

Look out for one another. 

Help those that need help. You never know when the shoe will be on the other foot and it will be you needing help. 

Love one another. 

Quit worrying about money, possessions, and status.. Those things mean NOTHING. 

Focus on love and living your best soulful life. 

That's the only way to truly make America great again.. It lies within each and every one of us. Let's make it happen.

I'm off to go snuggle my babies a little extra tight.

Love and light! 💗💗💗