Sunday, May 1, 2011 - Osama Bin Laden

For records sake, I feel as though I need to take some time to reflect and document what exactly this day means in the life of our nation.

September 11, 2001, I was a high school senior. The cap and gown had been ordered, the prom dress search had officially began, and all was well in the lives of the seventeen year olds that filled the Algebra 2 class we were in. I had not been feeling well that morning and was running late getting to school. Mom & I were in the living room and before I left for school, we saw the breaking news that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers in New York City. It had appeared to be an accident. I left for school, which was less than half a mile away.

As I got onto campus, I headed for Algebra 2. Walking down the hall of the Main Building, I knew something had occurred. It wasn't the news on the television that told me, nor was it the discussions that poured from the teacher lounges and other classrooms that told me, but it was something else. There was something else on the inside of my normally chatty Algebra 2 classroom: silence & fear.

The students in my classroom along with every other classroom in the school, were glued to the televisions. Another plane had hit the second tower and as more news came across the airways, one thing was certain. This was not an accident, but instead, it was a carefully calculated plot with a man by the name of Osama Bin Laden as the mastermind behind it all.

Along with the rest of the world, we watched. The hearts of America were broken and scared.

Security increased for a little while and although the we were all aware of "The War on Terrorism" eventually, the lives of most Americans found their way to normalcy - most American civilians that is, as the lives of American soldiers and their families were increasingly anything other than normal. This has been the case for the last 10 years as soldiers have spent their days and nights fighting for protection and freedoms for our nation and searching Osama Bin Laden.

*10 Years Later*

Monday, May 2, 2011, I woke up to the news that a group of Navy Seals had killed Osama Bin Laden the day before. As I got on to work, I again found myself walking through the hallways of a school, hearing this same name coming from classrooms and teacher lounges that I had heard 10 years ago. I even heard students talking to one another about the death of this man that they had led in the 2001 terrorist attacks, the year they were born.

Throughout the day, I checked the news. I have read about the celebrations taking place across the nation as this man has been brought to death. Yes, there were emotions in my heart throughout the day like relief and thankfulness, however, I can not say that "rejoicing" was one of them.

I have struggled with how to word my thoughts, but when I came across J.D. Greear's blog, I felt as though he sums up my heart today. Please click the link to go to his blog, which is much more powerful and shorter than this one.