There have been two events during my lifetime that have shaken not only me but the entire country.  I know that there have been others (Pearl Harbor, The Kennedy Assassination, Apollo 13) that occurred before I was born that have had the same effect, and still others (the North Park PSA crash) that I remember bits and pieces of, but these are ones that I can say I remember vividly.  The first was January 28, 1986.  I was sitting in my second period Driver's Ed class when an announcement came over the loudspeakers telling us that the Shuttle Challenger had exploded after takeoff.  I remember a particular classmate’s reaction, the horrified look on her face and how she put her hand up to her mouth.  She was a classmate, someone I never really talked to up to then or after, but I will forever remember her and her reaction on that day.  I remember an empty feeling the rest of that day, feeling the loss of people I didn't know but that we all mourned.

The other was September 11, 2001.  Carla had an early shift at her job, and I remember waking up to the radio, hearing but not believing what was happening.  Initial reports were sketchy, and on the TV they had some early footage that made me sick to my stomach.  I went to work at the Financial Services company I worked for, but nobody was doing any work, it was just a bunch of people scouring the Internet for information.  There were rumors of a plane or two heading to the west coast that were not responding to radio communication, just rampant speculation that made a stressful day even more worse. 

I only had one friend that lived in New York when the attack happened, I sent her an email asking her to 1) be safe and 2) let me know that she was safe.   I heard from her within a day or so, she was OK.  She didn't live near the World Trade Center and was fine, but it must have been even more intense for her being able to see the smoke. Even sitting on the opposite coast, it was something that when you watched coverage of it, you wanted not to be real.

The day crawled by, its pace crushed by fear and grief.  When I finally got home, Carla and I made dinner but we decided that we needed to escape from the heaviness of the day, so we decided to watch Spaceballs.  It’s a testament to Mel Brooks that I could watch something that he made and laugh on that of all days.  The laughter was an escape from the reality of the day, and while it lasted only as long as the movie, it was something that was needed,  Bob Moss used to run seminars on 'Laughter for RX', and seemed to spend every waking hour laughing and smiling.  I often wonder how he handled the events of 9/11 on that day.

​Predictably, it is the darkest hours that bring out the light in some.  The first responders that charged into a situation they didn't or couldn't fully comprehend.  How men and women overcame fear and banded together to help each other in what was some of their last moments on this earth.  How Pat Tillman, a man with what for him was the perfect job, quit to enlist in the military to try to make a difference.  The stories of heroism that illustrate why although the attacks took thousands of lives, the American spirit cannot be broken.

As is the case in the digital age, it usually takes more time to get accurate information even when an event is covered live.  Until we had solid information, we relied on the people that were delivering the news to interpret the information that was funneled to us.  Some were better at it than others.  We saw things that we could not unsee, based on what the channel's technical directors saw fit.  It was far different from a generation before, when the news was delivered by the anchors on television and the paperboys in the morning.  In this day and age of instant gratification, there are multiple 24 hour news networks, where back when Iran took xx Americans hostage, we had three networks - period.  Local television affiliates had no news coverage, and actually went off the air in the middle of the night.  In San Diego, we had two newspapers, a morning paper, the San Diego Union (where my Dad worked), and the Evening Tribune.  News then was basically like a meal (at regular and predictable intervals), whereas now it is an I.V. drip - steady whether you want it or not.  

Eventually, the man deemed responsible for the attacks of 9/11 and others was hunted down and killed.  We have heard rumblings of other thwarted attacks on American soil over the years, and now with ISIS coming to prominence we are hearing them again. We have no idea of what the Government Intelligence Agencies have or have not saved us from over the years, and I for one don't mind. 

​On this day, we remember those that lost their lives on that day while just trying to do their jobs, whether working in one of the Towers, or rushing into them to try and help.  The best way that we can honor the first responders that lost their lives is to remember that they epitomize what is good about both this country and the human race in general.  They weren't drafted to be firemen, paramedics or police, they chose their profession willingly.  They volunteered to be the ones running into harm's way when the situation called for it, much like those in the military have.  They are the ones that hear the danger and the chaos and run toward it while others run away.  I'd like to think I would do that, but I honestly hope I never find out if I would step up or shrink away.  Stepping up is the quality that makes them heroes, and who we should honor not just on September 11th, but every day.  It is heroes like that we can be proud of, be thankful for, and strive to emulate.