A day to remember...

I owe an update on my thoughts on the current state of the Browns, especially after the pathetic outing that was the Steelers game this past weekend, however, that is not appropriate for today.

Today was the 6th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on our country.

I could use this as a diatribe for/against the current war or the way the government and country are harshly divided. But I won't. It isn't worth it.

I spent a lot of today thinking about that day. As most Americans do, I vividly recall where and what I was doing. I was working in Ravenna Lamp Plant. I remember the first reports were "a plane" hit the trade center, described as a little Cesna. Then more and more information came in. It was clear that his was no Cesna, and probably was not an accident. In the cafeteria of the plant, they turned on a TV. I saw the second plane hit the the tower live, this was no accident. It was a state of disbelief. I remember people openly crying and were just in a state of shock. It was very surreal.

It is hard to explain all the emotion that goes through me when thinking back on these events; anger, sadness, desire for vengeance, fear and even pride. I don't ever remember a time, albeit brief, when the entire country pulled together like that. In that respect, it was wonderful; just horrible that it took such a tragedy to do it.

Even today, six years after the fact, I still found myself with a tear in my eye and a little choked up when thinking about it. I think about families losing loved ones; or the fear people had to have if they were trapped in the Towers. For someone to jump from higher than 80 stories up, had to indicate the horrors that were happening in that building. I reflect that back into my own life and think about losing one of my parents, my wife, my son, a friend or leaving them behind because something happened to me, and it is hard to deal with the thought. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims, survivors and their families. I have a hard time imagining that happening to my family, let alone actually having to go through it.

My thoughts and prayers are also for our country as a whole. We need it. We need a bold leader to provide some inspiration, ignite new hope and dreams, aspirations of greatness. We, as Americans, are looking for this, can anyone provide it?

9/11/01 - We'll never forget.

God Bless the USA.