We Will Never Forget

In announcing my challenge a couple of weeks ago, I planned to share a few of the entries here this morning - but I did not receive a single completed project to share.

I did receive one email from Jeanette - she shared the following:

A couple of years ago we took our granddaughter to NYC to visit relatives.  While there we took the subway down to the ground zero sight.  Olivia was just a very little girl on 9/11/01 but we were able to tell her the story and show her the site as a teenager.  It was a very moving prayerful experience.

I found an image on a woodworking yard art site and created an scut file to use on the scrapbook page of our visit, unfortunately I still don't have the page done.  But I have retired now so I hope it will be soon.

The file that Jeanette shared with me was created from this picture that she found on a woodworking craft site:

The only other completed project that I can share with you this morning, is the t-shirt that my daughter made by creating an iron-on transfer of the file that I created.  She made and wore this shirt for the 5K Defender's Dash that she ran yesterday (she set a personal record and came in first in her age category - you can see more on her blog, Running For My Life).

My personal thoughts on this day of remembrance:

I will always remember exactly when I first heard of the attack - before anyone realized that it was an attack.  I was sitting in my doctor's waiting room when the receptionist stood up and announced that a small plane had just flown into the side of the World Trade Center.  By the time I came out of the doctor's appointment, the second plane had struck and our world had changed. I still had not seen any images but as I drove towards work, I was listening to the news on the radio.  I stopped at home to turn on the television and like most Americans, sat there staring at the horrific destruction.  I called my oldest daughter and woke her to announce that "America is under attack".  Then, because of the uncertainty of the day, I called my youngest daughter who was away at college in Michigan.  She was at class so I just told her room-mate to tell Jenn that we were safe.  I watched as the attack on the Pentagon was reported and then as reports of the crash of Flight 93 came in.  I watched in disbelief as the first tower fell.

I went to work after the first tower fell - I worked as an admin at a large call center where we provided customer service for AT&T.  The management team had brought out the large screen television and set it up in our command center so that everyone could remain aware of what was going on.  Many of the reps were fielding calls from family members frantic to reach their loved ones in NY. 

America UNITED and there were great displays of patriotism throughout our country following the events of 9/11/01 - not unexpected but absolutely amazing to witness.

The American Flag pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center - proudly carried and displayed at the opening ceremony.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, 
and to the republic for which it stands, 
one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.

While I was searching for pictures of the American flag, I came across a blog post that sums up exactly how i feel today:

In the days, weeks and months following 9/11, our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism. Sadly, those flags have all but disappeared. Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times and it shouldn’t take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds.

This blog post was a call to action for the 8th anniversary of 9/11 - trying to get all Americans to fly the flag on that day.  You can read the full blog post here: Life is Like a Box of Chocolates.

If you read through this entire post (sorry I rambled and got wordy) - thank you for stopping by today.

Lora