Remembering 9/11/2001 - A Word from Kemp

I have twin daughters who, thankfully, were not yet born when our nation was attacked six years ago.

Six years… it hardly seems like it’s been that long, but it has…

Six years ago last night, a nation went to bed… not knowing the horror we would face the next day.

Every generation has an event that changes their perspectives and their lives… JFK’s assassination, the Challenger explosion, the Oklahoma City bombing…

But unfortunately, we had one that, for lack of a better word, trumped them all…

On September 11, 2001, millions of Americans watched in abject horror as those who were threatened by our freedom and our way of life savagely attacked our country.

Almost everyone can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the attacks.

But life went on… like it should. As a whole, we were able to heal, but we will not, and should not, ever forget that day when our happiness, our freedom, our safety and our resilience seemed lost amid a sea of hopelessness, pain, remorse and newly-found vulnerability…

We got them back… we found our resilience, we rediscovered our freedom and our happiness, and while at times our safety is brought into question, we haven’t had an attack on our soil since that fateful day six years ago… we, as a nation, were able to move forward after the attacks, albeit sometimes slowly.

Although six years have passed since the events of 9/11, the spirits of those who lost their lives, the heroes and innocent people lost during that day, are still very much alive.

There will be ceremonies and services across the nation today to commemorate the horrific events of six years ago… a day that touched everyone in this country in some way.

But for some, 9/11 was much more than just a national tragedy, it was a personal one as well…

Family, friends, colleagues and neighbors were lost that day… and immeasurable lives around them were forever changed.

Let’s take moments today to remember them all and remember that the lesson to be learned from this horrific event is that the American spirit will prevail after being struck down and we will emerge stronger, and more confident, after a fall.



cross-posted @ Kemp’s Blog