On this anniversary

Twelve years ago, so many lives changed.  Those that immediately changed when their loved ones perished at the hands of a horrible individual, those that responded to that tragedy, those that would very soon find themselves on deployment orders and the rest of us that didn't have a direct connection to this situation but ached in our hearts for those that were.  For years, we have looked at that date and can tell you exactly where we were on that day.

I remember where I was on that fateful day.  I worked at a local bank and we didn't have access to TV or radio while at work.  I called another department and the rep on the other end told me I needed to get to a TV.  As soon as I got off the phone, I went on break and walked over to the snack shop.  Right as I walked in and saw the television, the second plane hit.  I had no comprehension of what had just happened.

To be honest, I felt for those involved, but I didn't really know what I could do.  I had my job at the bank, I continued on living like I had been living.  It wasn't until July 2004 that everything become extremely real.  I had become a supervisor in my area and a guy I had gone to school with was now working up in the same area and happened to be on my team.  When I noticed that he was at his desk outside of break time and he had been gone for awhile, I went to double check on him.  I heard him extremely upset out on the emergency stairs.  When I opened the door to check on him, he looked at me with so much pain in his eyes and whispered 'Joe's gone....'  It took me a minute to realize what had happened.  His best friend, the individual who was supposed to be his best man in his wedding in a couple months, a soldier we had both gone to school with, had been Killed in Action.

In that split second, something that had been so distant became very real.

Shortly after that is when I signed on the dotted line.

I served over six anniversaries of that day, two of those were in Iraq.  The most recent anniversary, I proudly stood next to my husband as he raised his right hand and re-enlisted.  Each year, our life has changed a little bit more, this year - my husband is deployed.  Each anniversary, we remember and although neither of our boys will remember that day, they will still know the reason daddy has gone to war, the date that an attack took place on our own soil and the day that America got mad.