9/11 Remembered

On the Tuesday morning of 9/11/01 I was asleep in bed in Santa Monica, California with the TV on as my soon to be husband got ready for work. (we would be married a week and a half later) He woke me to see the news. It was horrible, it was devastating, but that is not the part of 9/11 I remember most.

The thing that has stayed with me was the pulling together of our country in the weeks that followed. That was the one time in my life I felt a real sense of patriotism, a sense of how this huge country is all connected, and my responsibility to everyone in it as a citizen.

Even in Lefty Southern California there were flags everywhere. Every store counter had jars to donate to the victims, fire fighters, Red Cross, you name it, and they all were running over. People genuinely were caring for one another. Everyone was aware that any person you passed on the street may well have lost someone and we protective of these strangers.

So today as we remember the terrible event, let's also try to bring back those feelings of caring for one another. Smile at a strangers on the street, give whatever little bit you can to help your fellow Americans, be kind to one another. We are still the same people we were then and we still need each other, maybe even more...