I remember...
When I was younger people would sometimes ask if I remembered where I was when Kennedy was shot. I was only 4, so, no, I don't remember.
As this date approached, I started to think of those dates I do remember.
One of the earliest dates I remember is July 20, 1969. I remember my dad waking me up to come sit in front of the TV and watch Neil Armstrong take his first step on the moon. Black and white images on a color TV. Thanks pop!
I remember the day my grandfather died. He was the first family member that I was close to to pass away when I was old enough to really understand it. He was my moms dad and he passed away the day before Mothers Day in 82.
I remember the day I joined the navy and the day I retired from it too. We renewed our wedding vows the day I retired. I surprised her. I remember the chaplain asking, "What if she says no?" I told him if she said no, she couldn't come to the party!
I remember the day I got married and the day my girls were born.
Most recently, I remember the day my granddaughter was born. Probably because just the other day, when someone asked me her birthday I couldn't remember it. That's another day I'll not soon forget. The day I forgot my granddaughters birthday!
I remember September 11, 2001 too. We lived in AZ then. I was getting ready for work, with the news on in the background. I was talking to a friend in Oklahoma City. I remember telling him I had to go and he should turn on the news.
I can't say exactly why, but it crushed me. It hurt. Maybe growing up watching them being built. Or standing at the bottom of them and looking up. Or the view from the top on a clear day. The thought of all those people... I almost took a job there just a couple of years earlier. Thank goodness Dee didn't want our girls to grow up to be "big haired, gum popping, Jersey bitches". Her words, not mine.
Ten years later I still get a little choked up thinking about it. But when I think of that day, ten years ago, the thing that I like to remember most is those people that were on Flight 93. They stood up and said, Hell No! They were the first to stand up and say Hell no!
And no matter what our government says, I remember who did it and why they did it. The thought that there are people in this world that would twist a religion into a belief that their god wants them to do shit like this makes me sick to my stomach.
