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To my Children,
On Spet. 11th, at 7:30 A.M. I brought Dalton who had just turned one on the 6th downstairs. We had a morning routine. I changed his diaper, and set him up into his highchair for breakfast. I remember it being beautifully sunny that day. As I cut up bananas and got him some Cheerios, and a glass of milk, I turned on the TV to the Good Morning America show.
I sat down to watch when, all of the sudden they were showing footage of an explosion LIVE on the world trade center. As they and I were trying to make sense of what was going on, I watched in absoulte terror and horror as the second plane hit the other tower. I sat in disbelief, and immediately called your grandma ( my mom) who lived about an 1/8 of a mile to our north. We were in the middle of Nebraska, but only 80 miles from Omaha, which houses Offut Military Base. I began to panic as I thought what a huge target this could be. When I called your grandma, I told her to turn on the TV, she asked, " Why?" I told her, " They're bombing us!" She asked, " who?", I finally screamed at her to, " Turn on the Da*& TV."
We sat in silence on the phone wondering what would happen..Your Uncle Matt had returned from military training not more than a couple months if I remember correctly..it may have been weeks.
I sat in stunned silence as I watched the whole thing unfold through out the day.
Dalton its the one day I can say I held you all day and cried..I cried because the great world into which you were born, was destroyed. I cried because of I knew how many childrens lives had just been shattered as they lost loved ones. I cried not knowing if Uncle Matt would have to go to a war I was sure was coming.
As the later part of the day approached, I heard a VERY LOUD roar...my first thought was OMG, they're going after Offut! I scooped you up and ran outside looked up to the sky to see a huge jet liner flying low enough I could make out the words on the side it said AIR FORCE ONE. It was the president on his way to Omaha to Offut. At that moment, I knew we were Ok. They wouldn't take the president to Offut if they thought it was going to be a target.
As I sat down on our front steps with you in my arms..I started crying all over again for the umteenth time. I was never more proud to be in America, I was never so scared to be in America. Theres something you have to understand.....September 11th, forged our world into the one you are now accustomed too. It did NOT exsist the day before....before Sept. 11 you didn't have terror alerts, our military wasn't at war, Terrorists were something that happened in other countries. Its very surreal to think about it.
Dalton, Cody, Allie, the world I wanted to bring you into died that day. We now have worries that didn't exsist before that day. It is a day the world literally changed. I will tell I have NEVER been so proud as I was the weeks after of being American. In a very twisted way, the attacks made us all realize that it wasn't anout me me me or this group and that group..It was about US as a country!

Every year on Sept. 11 I think about the day it happened and how uncanny it was that it was so sunny and warm...almost too perfect of a day. This year I plan to have a moment of silence to remember the victims, their families and millions of others who were affected....