The Day Our World Changed FOREVER: 9/11/01

I had just finished working a 24–hour shift at the ambulance when someone asked me if I had heard what was going on in New York.   At the time, I was only a few blocks from the ambulance station so I returned to find my comrades all glued to the T.V. with an eerie silence filling the room.   We were all in shock…with disbelief written all over our faces.   For a group of medics who were used to seeing human tragedy and suffering, NOBODY in that room had ever seen anything quite like this.

On this day that has come to be known since as Patriot’s Day, we lost a part of America that is gone forever.   Each morning now when I get out of bed I turn the TV on and for those few seconds before I hear the broadcast I silently wonder in my mind if the world is still okay after my 6 or 7 hours of slumber.   I figure if the news is talking about sports or weather the world must be okay.   I sigh some relief.

Truth is each day I live 9/11 in some way in my life.   On 9/12 I was not the same person I was only days before.   My family is much more important to me.   Not that they weren’t before that horrific event, but 9/11 taught me the importance of family above anything else.   Hours after the Twin Towers came tumbling down I was with my family and took comfort in their presence.

What happened in New York also concerns me every time I travel.   I’ve been on commercial airlines dozens of times since 2001, but I’d be lying if I told you that when I buckle up my seat belt I don’t look around for anything OR ANYONE looking suspicious.   What if I am on the plane about to make history all over again?   Yea, I think about that.   It’s part of my being.   The world will never be quite so innocent again.

I also worry when I travel that I am hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away from family.   Remember how the skies seems so empty in the days following 9/11?   I live over a major flight path so I get used to seeing planes in the air, but not that week.   It was a different world…and at the time we were living in uncertainty the likes of which we had never before experienced in our country.

In closing, I just want to say that we’ve learned that the terrorists can destroy buildings, but they could not break the American spirit.   I was proud then how our country put aside the partisan politics and pulled together in a common effort to defeat a very dangerous new enemy.   Patriotism was running high and I felt proud to be an American.   I also felt angry as an American.   What makes me sad is how many people have obviously forgotten the impact of 9/11 on our world.

Thank you Firefighters.   Thank you Medics.   Thank you Police Officers.   But most of all thanks to our Service Men and Women who continue the fight for our freedom each and every day.   You all make me proud of the fantastic job you do in an effort to make our world a better place to live.   God Bless!!

2008 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.