In a Matter of Moments....

I woke up Tuesday morning oblivious to what was about to happen. I got the kids up, dressed, fed and off to school. Then, I went about my business of cleaning house. After a quick phone call to my mom just to chat, the ever-present security of my world was shaken to the very core.

Watching the television showing the same clips over and over still couldn't penetrate the cloud of shock that engulfed me. This can't be real, this can't be happening. I was an infant when Vietnam raged,and the Gulf War didn't really touch me, even though my husband had just joined the military. It was so short he was never sent to the Gulf. Bosnia was different; it hit me hard but in a different way. We were stationed in Germany and my husband was sent there not once, but twice--for a total of a year and a half of our lives. But what happened Tuesday was different. It happened to our security blanket called home. Not in a far-off distant land, but here at home.

I don't want to diminish any loss of life due to acts of terrorism, but this time they wanted more than shock value. They want war. Plain and simple, they want us to fight them and that scares me. They know what a powerful military we have and still they want war. Now I ask, what do they have hidden up their sleeve that they think will beat us? Or at least hit us hard? Now that scares me. Perhaps they didn't expect to succeed. Perhaps they just wanted to be the coward that they are and hit and run and hope we just gave them a public lecture and a stern "no-no." Either way, it still scares me.

The only comfort I take from this is that they have not taken into account the firm resolve, pride and love for America and her freedoms that we as Americans all share. The freedoms to succeed and to fail, the right to love, laugh and believe as we wish. Together we are strong. United we stand.

So tonight when I tuck my children into their beds, hope for a better future lingers in my mind. I grieve for the children and families who were lost and have lost. I grieve for those we will lose. You have hit us in the gut with this horrible disregard for life but you have not destroyed our heart. I know that we as a country and people will defend our children, our home, and our freedom.

Written on 9/11/2001


***Featured in the September Issue of Teen Jellybean http://www.4teenjellybean.com/ AND published in this book: "Fear To Freedom And Beyond 911" ***