Unshaken Resolve

Ten years ago today our lives changed forever. I remember that day well.

I was already at school, on the field with the Drumline.

We were practicing our sets and music for marching band.

We finished our practice and were getting ready to join the rest of the band

when we heard the news:

America was under attack.

At first I wasn't sure what to think.

No one really knew a lot about what was happening.

But as time passed; reality sank in.

This wasn't an accident and it wasn't some small thing.

Someone somewhere was dying right then.

And we were all completely safe in our classroom;

what seemed like millions of miles away.

The 2 things I remember most about that day

are watching history unfold and my good friend, Jamie.

We watched the news in math, history, English and everything in between.

In my first period band class while we were watching

Jamie came in the room crying to use the phone.

She told me her Dad was Flying to New York that morning.

For a meeting at the WTC.

She didn't know if he had made it there or not.

She couldn't get a hold of him.

I remember sitting just outside of the band room with her

crying until she finally got a hold of her Mom.

Her Dad was safe.

He had missed his flight.

I know that years from now our childrens' childrens' children

will read about that day in history books.

They won't be able to understand the terror that every American felt.

But we will. We know how it felt to see our Beloved Country attacked.

I know that we will never forget all of the lives lost.

We united as a Country on that day.

We looked terrorists in the face and said

"We're still here. We're not going down without a fight!"

We will live on with "Unshaken Resolve"

that we will heal, and we will remain

United as One.

God Bless America.