Our View: 13 years later, we remember 9/11

Some moments in life are so big that we immediately remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when they took place.

Some moments in life are so big and so consequential that we can refer to them by a single name and everyone around will know exactly what is being referenced without any confusion.

Sept. 11, 2001, is one of those days that we just will never be able to forget.

Do you guys realize that this week will mark the 13th anniversary of the day when our country’s freedom was attacked and we saw a firsthand example of how real the evil is within our world today?

Everyone remembers exactly where they were when they first heard the news.

Our news staff is the same. Our news team remembers sitting in schoolyard halls and finding out that we were under attack. Staff writer Michael Hotard remembers sitting in his mom’s car on the way to John Curtis Christian Academy when the news broke on the radio. Staff writers Casey Gisclair and Richard Fischer had already made it to school when the day’s events occurred – each at Golden Meadow Junior High School when the chaos ensued. There wasn’t much book learning on that day as administrators and teachers eased the student’s minds about what they were seeing on the TV screen.

Our executive editor, Shell Armstrong, recalls getting her daughter ready for grade school when the news broke. She was working in law enforcement at the time, so seeing the New York and Washington, D.C., police and firemen called to action hit her close to home.

The pictures of moms, dads and children running from the chaos were horrifying – images that speak louder than any words alone can ever be spoken.

As a country, our first instinct was fear. But the fear quickly turned to resolve, which then shifted again toward unity.

At that time, we learned just how strong our nation is and how truly united the people of the United States of America can be.

Thirteen years have passed and if a child was born on that day, he/she would now be 13 years old.

Man, doesn’t that make us feel old?

But we remember. How could we ever forget?