The Last Ten Years...

It has been 10 years: 10 years, wow, that means I have a 10 year High School reunion this year. When looking back, like all of us, I still remember the day. However, what is the Ten years without talking about some changes along the way. Some sad, some happy, some fun, some difficult. In the last 10 years I personally have experienced: 3 graduations, finding the true love of my life and getting a nod of approval from my grandfather before losing him, getting married, buying a new home and even losing a little hair. We have all expierenced advances in technology, seen the rise and fall of MySpace, the subsequent rise of Facebook and Twitter, 3D movies and TV, internet in the palm of our hands and being in contact with anyone at anytime, anywhere. We have all seen death, birth, love and hate. None of which made us stand still collectively at one time and have an affect on our lives like 9/11/01.



Me at 17.



9/11/01: I was 17 years old, a Senior at Conroe High School and probably should have been in school like many of my other classmates, I wasn't. That morning started like any other, I picked up my best friend and my then girl friend to take to school that morning. But that morning turned out a little different, I wasn't feeling good for some strange reason. I called my mom on my cell phone. Ten years ago cell phones had just became more and more popular, mainly for parents to stay in contact with their kids. These phones were built to send and receive calls, send an occasional text (sometimes for $.10 a text!) and play the game 'Snake". Unlike today where we use our phones for everything other than actual phone calls... These days we use them to take pictures, video, to tweet, check facebook or play angry birds, we were a few years away from that technology... Anyways I called my mom to ask her if it was okay for me to come home because I wasn't feeling good, she agreed. I dropped of my friends and I returned home. I snuggled up on the recliner in the living room and fell asleep....  A couple of hours earlier the ringing of the phone awakened me. My mom was on the other end. She informed me to turn on the TV, I did and we stayed on the phone speechless for what seemed like an eternity as I tried to find words for what my eyes were seeing. I had none, and neither did my mom. I don't know remember what was said, but I remember saying "I love you." to eachother before we got off of the phone, this time we didn't just say it, we said it with passion and meaning. I felt sick, now for a different reason. 

Memorial Circle on campus of Texas Tech University.

9/11/02: I was 18 years old, a Freshman at Texas Tech University... You may be wondering why I am telling the year after story. Well for me I cannot tell one without telling the other... I was on campus, and in the center of campus sits Memorial Circle. One year later Texas Tech had American flags everywhere and encouraged the students to all join in for a moment of silence. It was a scene I will never forget! A couple of thousand of students and a moment of silence that is etched into my memory.

I have friends and family that have served and are currently serving. I thank God everyday for what they and their fellow soldiers have done for me, my family and our country! And to the first responders who did not hesitate before running into the towers to save as many people they could, We will never forget!