September Eleventh

By Leah

Today we remembered the terrorist attacks from the other side of the world. At lunch with our friends from DC, Ian and Erin, we had the "where were you" conversation, and talked a little bit about the ensuing decade of war.

I was in my first month of college, and I'd been gone long enough to feel homesick. My roommate had the news on before the first plane hit, so we were standing in front of the tiny little TV watching when the second plane hit, the news anchor lost composure, and terrorism entered my consciousness for the first time.  I was so, so confused that first week, and have never been so homesick.

Today I was a little homesick too, because every year on this day, I've felt a surge of patriotism from knowing that everyone else in my country has a meaningful "where were you" story about that day too.

A little while ago, Steve found a story on CNN about a Kenyan tribe that sent cows (a precious possession) to the U.S. as gifts of condolence for our grief. Steve said "they are really decent people and they know that sometimes you just need to give someone a cow." It's a neat story with great photos- check it out: http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/10/remembering-911-an-unexpected-gift-to-america/