It didn’t sink in at the time.  At 16 years old I didn’t have the presence of mind to understand just how much things would change.  Was it mind numbing?  Absolutely.  At 9:05 AM two of the largest structures in the world were burning right next to one another.  You knew you had never seen anything like it and you hoped to God you never would again.

They weren’t supposed to fall.

The world we live in was forever changed by that event.  Our politics are dirtier now.  The stakes seem to be higher, and the grass isn’t quite as green this side of 2001.  People have done ugly things to America and America has done ugly things to people.  In the aftermath of these events, I feel that our response wasn’t calculated.  America was not a seasoned soldier marching forward with stability, purpose and clarity.  It was a frightened child in the dark, flailing her arms about hoping that one swift motion might catch the enemy upside the head and render them stunned long enough to exact her revenge.

That enemy was never caught.  He still roams free, his mere presence proof that we aren’t as all-powerful as we might have thought.

I often wonder what we have learned from all of it.  Have we learned anything?  Have we grown from it and become more aware of the world and people around us, or has it hardened us to the point where we’ve closed ourselves off?  Have we remembered to hold our wrath for Al Quaeda and other terrorist organizations, or has that wrath grown to include an entire culture?  What should we take from all of this?

My Uncle Kenny put it best.

As the sun comes up on that morning I urge everyone to reconcile differences they may have with others and spread kindness to those whose beliefs you do not share for the rest of the day.