To Emma, on 9/11

Dear Emma,

This is an anniversary that you will hear about and learn about, but never lived through. Today is a day that will never leave me. I was a sophomore in college, living with Chari. We had been awoken that morning to the news and watched the second tower collapse. We just stared. We ended up staying in the rest of the day, watching the news, calling our loved ones. You now live in a world where you have to be screened before getting on a plane. Passports are a little harder to get, and there is always a color code for the threat level. Many innocent people died this day and we will never forget how much we've changed since then.

My hope for you is that you never take your life from granted. That you treat everyone you meet with love and respect regardless of who they are or how they look. God never makes mistakes. I hope that you take a minute everyday to thank God for the blessings in your life as well as the challenges that you learn from.

We pray for the families who live without their loved ones because of these attacks and we fly our flag high because we are proud to be Americans. We are very thankful for our service men and women and their families who miss them everyday.

God Bless those souls who are no longer with us. We will never forget.