It’s hard to believe the United States was attacked on September 11, 18 years ago. Many of us remember where exactly we were when reports hit the news channels.
Mike and I had only been married six months and were living in Riverview, Florida, in an apartment trying to forge our new life together.
He was a policeman for the City of Tampa, and I was a teacher’s assistant at a Montessori school called Llamas and Learning. The school was super neat, with a campus more like a small ranch or farm.
Students could pet and work with various animals, including the school’s namesake, as well as hike along a creek for real life science lessons.
I worked with the four-year-olds and to this day, I miss and think about a few of the special little people who made a mark on my life back then. Where are Delaney and Taylor today? And, whatever happened to Ronnie and Olivia?
Anyway, September 11, 2001 was a normal day of fixing snacks and helping with lessons when the owner, Ms. Juliette, rushed into our classroom in a composed but urgent manner. She said something terrible was happening in New York and ordered us to gather all the children into the common area. We all tried to wrap our heads around what on earth could be happening, but we also thought it was important not to get too excited in front of the kids.
As parents came in to pick up their children, we all sat together watching the TV in growing horror.
Over 3,000 people had their lives stolen from them that day. The American people, and our allies, stood together, unified, in the days and months following the event in a way that some could argue hasn’t been seen since.
I pray nothing like that happens again. Speaking of prayer, one movement spurred by the tragedy is the Awake America prayer meetings. Groups from all over the U.S. meet on a regular basis to pray for our nation overall but also specifically for our leaders, our youth, our churches and more.
This region has an active Awake America presence and just last week they held a wonderful ceremony in remembrance of 9/11. Read Sydney’s story and see the photos in the Community section, where we did something special to honor September 11th as well. To take a cue from one of Fannin County’s favorite people, Mr. Dale Dyer, God bless you all.
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Lauren Bearden is assistant editor at The News Observer. She can be reached at 706-632-2019 or by email at lauren@thenewsobserver.com.