Just Me

  Today marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11, when America was attacked by foreign terrorists. Today is usually a sad day for many of us, which is why I seriously pondered whether or not I should keep up with the daily habit of finding things to celebrate from my day. Every year that 9/11 rolls around, I don't particularly feel like celebrating. I am more reflective, observant and quiet. I take time to remember the lives of those lost, to honor the very brave first responders who risked their lives to save the people trapped in the Towers (and how some of them perished in that attempt) and to think of just how America has changed since that day. Sadly, we have turned into a divided country where everyone is at war with each other. Which is why I ended up in tears while typing a song I'd written several years ago, which is actually more of a poem. It speaks volumes of the turmoil our country is in nowadays. But we cannot lose hope, nor can we lose the fabric that makes America the...

Every morning, I turn on the news to see what's going on in the world. But on September 11, 2001, I had not turned on the news that morning. Instead, I was chatting with an online friend. She was talking about the attacks and how big of an impact it is going to have in the future. Of course, I didn't know what she was talking about, so I asked. Her only answer was that I should turn on the news. So I did, and I was stunned at the news coverage I was watching. America had been attacked by terrorists. At first, I was trying to wrap my brain around what had happened. Was this real? Did this really happen to us that morning? Were people really dead because of terrorists hijacking planes and crashing them into buildings?  Unfortunately, yes. This was very real. This had really happened.  My shock turned to sadness then anger. I was so devastated and I was soon crying as I watched the continued coverage of the attacks. I was stunned to witness the coverage of people jum...