September 11, 2001

Always remember. 

September 11, 2001 was a day of confusion and chaos for our nation. It also turned into a day of unity. I was only 12 years old and I remember that day well. My brother Lamoni and I were off track that morning while the rest of my siblings left for school. I woke up to see my step mom crying in the kitchen. She was listening to the news on the kitchen radio. Listening to the news wasn't anything out of the ordinary because she did that everyday, but that time it was different. We were listening to our country being attacked. I turned on the tv and watched as the second tower went down. My step mom's cries only intensified during that morning. I don't remember crying myself but I remember feeling scared. Shortly after we heard about a plane attacking the Pentagon and then about a fourth plane which was intended for the Capital Building but instead crashed into a Pennsylvania field. My brother and I were glued to the news stations the entire day. Typically we weren't allowed so much tv time but that day was an exception. That Tuesday was the first time I learned what the word hijacked meant. It was also the first time in my life I realized how scary the world could be. As I watched the news I began to wonder if I was safe in my own state or in my own home. One of my last memories of that day is actually the memory that left me going to bed that night feeling hope and peace, it was this message by our then Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley . . .

President Gordon B. Hinckley, from an address given on Sept. 11, 2001, in the Tabernacle on Temple Square.

“Dark as is this hour, there is shining through the heavy overcast of fear and anger the solemn and wonderful image of the Son of God, the Savior of the World, the Prince of Peace, the exemplar of universal love, and it is to him that we look in these circumstances. It was he who gave his life that all might enjoy eternal life. ... May the peace of Christ rest upon us and give us comfort and reassurance and, particularly, we plead that he will comfort the hearts of all who mourn.”

. . .

Pics from a family trip 8 years later. 

This flag stood in the space the twin towers should have been.