10 years

I can remember in school having to interview my great-grandmothers and grandparents where they were on events like D-day or when Pearl Harbor was attacked.  I never thought in my lifetime there would be an event that defined my generation.
I was teaching pre-kindergarten at Shoreline Christian School.  Ben and I had just moved away from our families, the first time I had ever lived outside of my hometown with the exception of college.  My mom had flown home from Chicago the night before.  My director came into tell me the news and misquoted the news that the flight was from Chicago. 
During my kids' p.e. class I went to the nurse's office where we had a t.v. set up for teachers to see the news on a snowy screen.  By that time the second tower and the pentagon had been hit, but it was still unknown as to why.  It was the most awful feeling.  I called my mom in tears, just the thought that she had flown one day later.  That was when I found out the flight was not from Chicago.  She told me I needed to be more concerned with Ben's little brother,  Ethan who had only enlisted in the army on July 11th.
It is so crazy how different our lives were altered by one string of events.
Thank you, Uncle Ethan for serving our country for the past 10 years.  Thank you to my cousin, Jeff who serves his community every day as a fireman.