Fox_NASCAR_Guy's Blog

Seven years ago all our lives changed.

We as a collective nation changed as well.

In the blink of an eye a group of evil men shook us from our slumber and made us realize that we were never really safe here in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

As the generation before us remembered where they were and what they were doing when John F. Kennedy was shot, we can say precisely what we were doing and where we were on September 11, 2001. It’s stamped on our consciousness. Frozen there for the rest of our lives. We may not be able to remember last weeks grocery list or your name when we see you again, but we can still recall that moment in time that scarred us forever.

Horror, shock, disbelief, sadness, anger. All of those emotions ran through us that day, no matter where we were or what we were doing.

Some of us put on a uniform, traveled to distant lands and struck back. There was a measure of satisfaction in that. But even those of us privileged enough to be part of the eagle’s talon will never be the same. Killing is a grisly business, even when it’s the right thing to do. For some who went, theirs lives were not only changed, they were ended. And those of us witness to it, died a little bit as well.

Indeed all of our lives have been altered.

Since that terrible, awful day, nothing as been the same, we are forced to constantly look over our shoulders, be suspicious, cast a weary eye to strangers.

For God’s sakes we can’t even take toothpaste on an airplane now.

But there are those among us whose life will never be the same, no matter what. Because someone they once said the words ‘I love you’ to, is gone.

They called them husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter.

These people would gladly exchange all the little inconveniences for just one more hug, one more ‘I love you’, one last goodbye.

To those who watched people they loved leap from a tower; heard cry out on a cell phone from an airplane or who rest in the ground at places such as Arlington National cemetery we say this.

God Bless you all.

You have sacrificed more than anyone of us ever will. You have struggled to cope with the loss of someone who can never be replaced. And you continue to struggle each and every day.

And we as a nation can do no more than reach out our collective arms, hold you close and whisper; we shall never forget.

No matter which side of the debate, or which side of the aisle we are on, there is one thing we can all agree to tell you and that is this; Because of the sacrifice of your loved one, and your continued sacrifice, you have helped secure the blessings of Liberty not only for this generation, but for generations yet to come.

We owe you a debt of gratitude we shall never be able to repay. You are one of the many reasons that we are now and shall always remain, one Nation under God, with Liberty and Justice for all