Memory of 9/11 remains

Sitting in a classroom and preparing for a test.

Enjoying a telephone conversation with a friend, who just found out she was pregnant or was maybe preparing for a big weekend date.

Or getting dressed and prepared for work.

Everything about the lives of Americans was normal on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

By afternoon, life as we know it was turned upside down and flipped inside out.

Everything normal was abnormal.

Everything was changed, forever.

Over the weekend, thousands of Americans gathered around the country to remember the cowardly acts of terrorism that spit in the faces of our nation’s Capitol, New York City and a Pennsylvania field on that infamous day.

Family, friends, neighbors, fellow humans gathered at landmarks to remember those lost.

Others not able to attend ceremonies watched from afar, mourned, but most importantly remembered.

We remember the images of separate planes crashing into two of our nation’s most recognizable monuments.

We remember the unforgettable image of the buildings finally succumbing to the crash’s blunt force, collapsing into a heaped mass of rubble.

We also remember seeing part of the Pentagon’s structure changed from its stoic white color to black after being charred by another attacker.

Truly a list of some of the most unforgettably hours in each of our lives.

Most importantly, we remember our neighbors, our countrymen, directly in the line of evil on the day.

Pictures of humans jumping 20-stories down, hoping or praying for survival.

These are mothers, fathers, moms, dads, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews.

It’s been 10 years since the cowardly acts of terrorism on that day. Since that time, the headlines have faded to the tragedy du jour and the attention is no longer squarely on New York City, Washington, D.C., and in Shanksville, Pa.

Some only remember the incidents for their leavings, increased security at airports and/or identity checks to get into and out of the country.

The weekend’s countrywide ceremonies show living proof that the pain is still felt across the country and hurt still exists among our nation and its people.

We must keep that day in our thoughts as we all continue to grind through our lives in today’s world.

Democrat, Republican, Green Party, Independent or No party, we are all Americans.

We owe it to our country to remember her plight on what may go down in history as one of her most difficult days.