Ramblings from a Patriot...9/11/2011.

Ten years ago today I was at work at Target in Anderson South Carolina when a co-worker came through the area I was in crying and told me the news. Most of the shoppers left their purchases in their carts and left the store, those of us who weren't at registers made our way to the break room where we watched in stunned silence as the towers fell, wondering how this could happen.

My children were huddled in the hallways of their schools in case the nuclear reactor located miles from where we lived was attacked. Their childhood abruptly halted, my little girls and their fairy tale outlook on life stolen in the blink of an eye.

We will never be the same, the acts of 9/11 have forever changed the lives of us all. Let us never forget those who died in the towers, those on Flight 93 whose courage led them to fight back and paid with their lives on that field in Shanksville. The countless firemen, policemen and soldiers who were there before, during and are still there sacrificing their lives and irreplaceable time with their families. Their dedication and service to this nation reminds me how lucky we are to live in the greatest country, the United States of America. The terrorist act that was meant to destroy this nation has burned in our hearts that true Americans come back from insurmountable odds and bond together in the pursuit of freedom, no matter what the cost.

September 20, 2001 President George W. Bush addressed the world with this response to the 9/11 attacks " We will not tire, we will not falter, we will not fail." We are among the blessed who have lived to be witnesses of that day. It is our responsibility to tell our children and their children and their children, so that we may always remember the cost of freedom and make every minute of that beautiful worthwhile.