When the world stopped turning.....

11 years ago I was sitting on my bed doing history homework. I had stayed home from school with a bad cough and fever. I was never big on watching the news back then bit I liked the background noise of the tv when I was home alone and since nothing good was on at that hour, the news it was. I heard a commercial cut out with "breaking news" and it caught my attention. I watched as the people of New York ran screaming from the mangled building. I watched as the NYPD and the NYFD ran into the building like brave heroes on a mission to save lives. My heart dropped as the second plane hit. I was shocked. The confusion as to what was happening was now clear. America was under attack. The gravity of what this meant for the future of America was unclear to me at that time. But, I knew that what was happening was no accident. And that someone would pay for the lives taken on that day. We all remember exactly where we were and what we were doing. Some of us I'm sure even remember how we felt. My feelings were selfish, as I was still a kid, I was shocked, scared for myself and my family, and angry. The gravity of the actual tragedy didn't hit me until much later. Until I realized that my life as an American had went from living in a time of peace to living in a time of war.  All of a sudden all the awful things I had read in my history text books, I was then seeing on the news. The stories of soldiers being held captive in grave conditions during WW1 was now on CNN. Since 9/11 my personal story has changed. I went from being stuck in a small town wasteland doomed to live a life of mediocrity to a mother of 3 of the most beautiful children Ive ever laid eyes on, living in a beautiful home in sunny Las Vegas.  I feel more connected to 9/11 more than ever now. I see it in the eyes of the Airmen I see everyday. I see it in the difficulty I have getting onto the base when the threat level is raised from Alpha to Bravo. So much has changed and in 11 years I've grown to know exactly what the people of New York gave that day. The bitter sadness they feel when they look across their skyline that is forever changed. And I am forever grateful.