Ten years. Thinking back I see how much I've changed; I wore glasses then, now I wear contacts. I was about to enter young adulthood, otherwise known as being a teenager, I am now old enough to vote, drive a car, legally drink, serve in the military, etc. My family life has changed, I've made new friends and lost some old ones.
But the one thing that hasn't changed is the pain I still feel when I think back to that day almost 10 years ago when the course of this country shifted dramatically in a single morning's time. Many things have been said about September 11. Many talk about where they were, a close call they themselves or someone they know had and some talk about a lost loved one. I want to talk about the aftermath.
After September 11th, I saw so many people flying American flags from their car windows, in stores and in front of their houses. There was a real sense of unity; all race, religious, and age barriers came tumbling down as we sorted through the ruins of Ground Zero, the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania. For a time, the true spirit of America radiated from our borders into the rest of the world. Our allies rallied against us and vowed to help us track down who committed these heinous acts against humanity.
But soon, like the state of my growing body, things began to change within us. The patriotism that brought us together, began to divide us. Different groups began to have different ideas as to how to alleviate the financial burdens placed on the country by two wars. More generally, America has come to a crossroads and the question we have been asking ourselves for the past ten years is "Where do we go from here?"
In these past ten years we have stopped talking about "Americans" and have begun talking about "tea party-ers" and "baby killers". Where is the spirit that once united us? I honestly do believe now more than ever we need to put aside our differences and work together to find the solution that will help a large majority of the people of the United States. Not the politicians, not a small percentage of the population, but "Joe the Plumber" and the future. America was founded on differences but built by compromise.
Last night I cried thinking about September 11th. Not so much for the act itself, but for everything that has happened since then. How many of us really stop and commemorate the event anymore? Last year I remember I went to the library where they had set up a display of flags. I stopped and thought of all those who have given their bodies, minds, and lives so that I could enjoy the sunshine in my college campus. In so many countries I wouldn't have the opportunity to go to school, choose whatever career I want, and enter the work force in order to make money to support myself and then do whatever I want with that money. (After taxes and bills of course.) I'm allowed to think and feel whatever I want and I don't have to worry that I'll 'disappear' just because I don't agree with the political party in office. In processing all of this, I felt an overwhelming love for my country and a crippling sadness at the state we've found ourselves in. Seeing all the political factions fight over nothing and simply for the sake of fighting is destroying everything I hold near and dear to my heart.
I can't think of a more fitting tribute for 9/11 than for us to remember the words of the Pledge of Allegiance "one nation...indivisible" and then take that and live in the spirit of that phrase.
God Bless America.
