Big Girl Pants: do you remember

i do. so do our braves sons and daughters standing in harm's way around the world. and so do the terrorist.

sitting here, working from home, watching the memorial services and it's all so fresh. from the first moment of silence at 08:46 (EDT) to the last one at 10:20 (EDT) the tears just flowed and i couldn't have done anything to stop it had i tried.

right now we have an exchange student from the czech republic. he's getting a unique perspective that he could never have received in europe. it's [probably] highly unlikely he'd get this same experience with any other host family here. from his surprise that we fly the u.s. and federalist flags everyday, the flying of the flag at half-mast today, he's been just one question after another.

we have exchange students every year and it never ceases to amaze me how skewed is their concept of free. i can't help but think that our founding fathers would find what passes for freedom in our current reality, here in the u.s., to be unacceptable. and yet, we are still the most free country on the face of the earth.

six years ago today, i stepped out of the shower to the image of the first tower burning. moments later i watched, live, as the second plane crashed into the second tower. it was then that i realized the first tower hit wasn't an accident. we were truly under attack.

at the time, we were living in houston about six miles from nasa. when the plane hit the second tower, i left to get my children from school. no matter how irrational, i just wanted my children with me. my oldest daughter, katerina, was waiting for me. seems she "knew" i'd be coming as soon as they made the announcement at her high school. no idea how she knew, but i guess i've always been neurotic about the safety of my kids. my other two children, jesse and tatiana, were younger; they really didn't understand why mom and dad were so upset. i'm not sure they yet have any idea. kat gets it. she remembers.

but honestly, i don't think that most people remember. certainly the msm doesn't remember. sure they remember that it happened, but not the significance of it all. they don't remember the pain of realizing our innocence, as a nation, was gone forever. they don't remember the horror of not knowing who it was or why or if more was imminent. do you?

we don't see those video images on the t.v. any more - seems the experts are worried that viewing the destruction will breed anger and hatred. apparently they are correct as islamist terrorists are seemingly using the videos for recruiting more jihad. they remember. they don't want you to remember.

they want you to believe the conspiracists. they want you to belive the msm and george soros and his moveon organization. they want you to believe the talking heads in the democrat party. they want you to believe that the war in iraq has nothing to do with the war on terror.

they know that if you believe the lies being passed off by these groups that you will be more likely to think we're safe here no matter what the "warmongerers" are telling you. they know that if you believe you're safe that you'll be more likely to pressure washington to abandon iraq. and maybe even afghanistan. and maybe even ignore any dangers from iran, if it comes to that.

nearly 3000 people dead on our soil. six years ago today. nearly 5000 american service men and women dead in this war on terror since oif started more than 5 years ago. many related terrorist plots foiled (worldwide) by our allies and our own country in the past six years.

in the new tape released, today, obl says that the only way the u.s. will escape further wrath from the islamists is if we all convert to islam. but don't look for this statement to change the dribble spewing forth from the defeatists. don't look for them to admit that the terrorist hate us not because of our capitalism or any other reason than the fact that we are not an islamic state. it doesn't fit their policy of cut and run, so look to even this statement being ignored.

already, today, i am hearing claims that obl isn't the man in charge any more. where before these same people were calling on the president to abandon iraq because the "real war" is wherever obl is, my guess is that these people will now start trying to make the case that there is no "real leader" and therefore we need to go back to treating the terrorists as criminals, not combatants. this will be the new justification for abandoning iraq and not fighting any more.

i, for one, will never forget. i will remember until the day i die that morning when my view of the world changed forever. i will always remember the innocence of the world i grew up in, snatched from my childrens' hands before they even knew it. i will remember, with pride, for as long as i live the brave souls on flight 93 who said "let's roll" and then did. i will remember fear i felt wondering if my friend was safely out of the pentagon when flight 77 hit (thankfully she was late that day and parking as the plane came in).

i will remember the horrors, the fear, the pain, the disbelief and the pride always and i will try to communicate that frequently to everyone i meet who does not remember. will you?