Never Forgotten

Having today be the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001, I have decided to tell a little about my adventures and emotions that I had throughout the day.

We started the morning with a little bit of a talk with all the kids. Tim and I wanted to make sure that they understood what would be going on today. We told them about what happened on that day, ten years ago, and we told them about what we did. About how Tim had to continue working even though he wanted to come home and be with us. We told them how I called up Aunt Jeni and we just spent the whole day in shock and confusion together at my house because neither of us wanted to be alone. We explained that all there was on TV for three days was news, and for some reason we couldn't turn off the TV the whole time.

Tim and I have a deep respect for our country. We are both very patriotic individuals. We believe that liberty is more important than security and that freedom isn't free. Talking to our children about some of these ideals can be a little overwhelming for the smaller ones, but I think the older ones were very respectful and understanding about what our decisions are when it comes to our country.

We watched some documentaries about the stories of the people that lost their lives that day, including Flight 93. We talked about the heroic things that the people on flight 93 did. After we learned about some of the names and faces of 9/11, we went to the Memorial Field that is located in the Civic Center in Sandy, Utah. They have a flag placed in the field for every individual that had lost their lives in that attack on America. Tim and I took the children and looked on every tag until we found all the names of the people we talked about today. Including a 3 year old girl named Dana that was on AA Flight 77 that had crashed into the Pentagon. It made the day very real for them. Even Rowdy Rigel was calm and respectful as we read the names on the flags.

Passing on your beliefs and instilling patriotic values into your children is one of the most important lessons you can give to a child. None of them could remember that day, and two of them hadn't even been born yet, but allowing them to see the magnitude of this day and that we don't tolerate terrorism was very important to us. It was an emotional and solemn day, so we had to end on a lighter note. We took the kids out for BBQ and ice cream and they all let the blanket of sorrow be thrown off of their shoulders. We explained that the Fourth of July was for celebrating, but this was the day for remembrance.

My mission in this life, like it states in my tattoo, is to serve God, family and country (in that order). I haven't posted in a long time, but I hope to get back into the swing of things now that my schedule is stable and the kids have started school once again. In the meantime, have fun in your adventures!!!!

Amanda