Tears

Abigayle and I left the house en route to the high school late yesterday afternoon to pick Leighlyn up. Shortly after we got into the car, we heard a very popular Country song by Toby Keith. It was made popular just a few days after 9/11. I apologize for not being able to remember it's title but I love it. It was written as a warning to the people involved in killing so very many innocent Americans that day. Though it has remained very popular throughout the past decade, I am sure that many radio stations around the nation played it yesterday in response to the celebration that Bin Laden was finally dead and "buried at sea".

Abigayle, who is 9, evidentally had not paid much attention to the lyrics before. She wanted to know what the song was all about. I explained it to her as best as I could. The entire time, quiet tears were dripping from my eyes as I thought back to that totally painful day when we, Americans, realized that we were not as safe and secure as we had once felt that we were.

That is not the only thing that I realized. I was less than 3 months pregnant with Abigayle when the towers were forced to the ground. Almost 7 months later when she was born, our countrymen and the rest of the world were still reeling at what had happened in the Land of the Free. That means that Abigayle has never known life as most of us have. She has always been able to turn on the TV and hear that various parts of the United States and our friends throughout the world are under High Alert, etc. I think that that is so sad. Before 9/11, most of us, Americans, thought that we had free reign to do what we wanted to do and where we wanted to do it.

I can tell you exactly where I was when I first learned of the bombings. I was at home cleaning house when my sister, Lori, called me. Given the fact that I was pregnant, my nerves were already in an uproar. After hearing of these tragedies, they were worse than at any time before. Now I realize that there was no need in me doing what I did next. I drove straight to Leighlyn's preschool classroom and picked her up and took her home with me. I just needed to know that she was fine.

I can also tell you where I was and what I was doing yesterday when I received the call from our son, Adam, letting us know that American forces had not only discovered where the man responsible for so much pain and strife in the world was hiding out and had been killed. It was our anniversary and Stan had taken the day off to celebrate. We were in the girls' bedroom laying out a new wood floor.

Those are two events that I will remember until my dying day...

VLE-B