An Innocence Lost

On September 11, 2001 I was sitting with my son watching Blues Clues when the whole world changed.  Apparently they don't interrupt Blues Clues for anything so we were oblivious that our country was under attack.

A frantic knock on the door by my neighbor shattered our moment of innocence and propelled my son and I as well as the rest of the nation into a day that would forever change our country.

 As I switched over the channel to see the events unfolding I remember my son thinking that the airplane hitting the building was "cool".  At four he had no idea what was going on.

Last night when he came into my room to tell me Bin Laden was dead I thought about how his life had been changed by this terrorist. No longer the little blond haired toddler that spent the day in awe of the airplanes, he is now a member of the generation raised with the constant fear of a terrorist attack.

His generation will never know what it was like to feel completely safe.  They have to look for abandoned backpacks and illegally parked vehicles in front of buildings. They grew up knowing what high alert means when it comes to terrorist attacks.  Getting on a airplane will always have a different level of concern for them than it did for us.  When we grew up we worried about the plane crashing and now they worry that some lunatic will crash it for them.

I hate Bin Laden for the horrific acts he condoned and carried out against all the people that died on 9/11.  But I also hate him for stealing the innocence of our nation and of my children.

My hope is that his death will do for our country what the 9/11 attacks did- bring us together and unite us.  Let it be a reminder after the horrible 9/11 wake up call that we are a country that survives no matter what is thrown at us.  With all it's problems and worries we still live in the greatest country in the world and as Americans there is nothing we can't do if we ban together.

He took the innocence of a generation but he can't take the heart of our nation.