9-11

It seems every generation has a tragic, monumental event to remember. We've gone from "where were you when Kennedy was shot?" to "where were you when Challenger blew up?" to "where were you on 9-11?"

I'm sure most of us remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard about or witnessed the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in Septmeber 2001. I was in my kitchen, having breakfast with my husband, who had just come in from the barn. He turned on the television and we saw the fire in the first tower. We knew a plane had hit it and we thought it was a tragic accident and wondered what had happened and how many people had died.

We were watching live when the second plane hit and at first we weren't sure what had happened. Then it dawned on us that it was deliberate. We stared in shock at the television. "Who would do something like that?" we wondered.

We still wonder at the senselessness of it all. Why do people think that violence solves problems? Why would anyone think it ok to murder thousands of people?

My husband and I handle 9-11 quite differently. He reads every article, every website, every theory he comes across. He watches videos and listens to 9-1-1 audio and watches all the Dateline specials.

I try to avoid most of that. I watch an occasional tribute and listen to the President's speaches. But when I think about what I was doing that morning, I have to take a minute to regroup. I still sit in stunned silence as the images play over and over in my head. I'm not trying to foget; that would be impossible. But I'm not trying hard to remember either.

I hope and pray the War on Terror will be successful and we can help end the bloodshed and fear they have brought to the world over the centuries. Someone needs to stop them. This is a fight to the end. The end of terrorism, I hope. Then end of everything, maybe. But we can't just let this continue. It's about time the world stood up to Al Qaeda. Enough is enough.