Here comes that date again.September 11th, 2001. A date that instantly became an 'I remember where I was when...' day.
I remember where I was when the events of 9/11 began. I was at work, like many other Americans on the east coast. My company was located within 1 mile of a major international airport (Washington/Dulles) for the Washington DC metro area, and we got used to seeing and hearing planes taking off and landing seemingly every minute. As the events unfolded, once we all realized what was happening, many of us left work to go home and be with our loved ones. I was single at the time, with no family in the area. I went home to be with me.
Driving home, listening on the radio, one eye on the road and one on the sky (try that!), I tried to gain perspective on what was happening. Suddenly the skies were empty and quiet, except for the occassional military fighter plane. Before going home I (and many others) stopped at the store and bought a bunch of water, ice, batteries - not really sure why, but who knew what was happening and/or about to happen? I got home and turned on the TV and watched.
And watched. And watched.
Later that afternoon I started to sort of freak out from horror overload. I called my friend Ted and asked him to go fishing with me. I had to get my eyes off of the TV, I had to get my mind to stop being so hyperfocused, I had to try and get some of those images out of my head. Also single and w/o family in the area, Ted was happy to go with me to our favorite fishing hole. The lasting memory of that evening was not the conversation, or the fish we caught; both of us were struck by the eerie silence, the empty skies overhead. Instead of a plane every minute, the sky was still and quiet. In the woods, miles from the city and the TV - and reality - we still could not escape the damage done.
And then a plane flew over. The silence being broken was the loudest plane I'd ever heard, the sound of freedom. The nation's airports had resumed flying, the country must be back to normal! Obviously it took longer than that - in fact we still aren't 'back to normal', nor will we ever be. That America, the country that existed before 9/11, is just a memory now.
In the days immediately following 9/11 the world felt our pain, holding candlelight vigils, tearfully saying 'Today We Are All Americans' - even in France! Here in America, we were united with a bipartisan resolve that none of us had ever experienced. We would rebuild, and we would do it together. Just a few months later, I fell in love and eventually got married.
That sure seems like a loooooong time ago.
Today, 6 years later, 9/11 is here again. I got divorced, once again I'm single. The world hates America more than ever. Republicans and Democrats hate each other again. Everyone hates the President. Wait a minute - we're back to normal! Except we can't bring a bottle of water through security...
Did it all really happen? No, I'm not a conspiracy theorist - I don't think the gov't brought down the towers with explosives, and I don't think the Pentagon was hit by a missile. Yes it happened.
I just wonder what we've done with all the resolve, the unity.
I'll watch the tape tonight, and remember how it felt. How I felt. 
