Patriotism: love and pride for one's country. A word associated with July 4th, Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, Remembrance days for the wars we have fought in this country, and what always seems to show through when we face tragedy as a nation. This is no different today. Today is 9/11. A day that was burned into our memories and our hearts in 2001.
I remember where I was on that day. I was in 10th grade at Sumter High School. I was in Band. We were playing and Mr. Jones had to stop us because an announcement came on. Our Principal, Mr. Dingle, was talking about how we would not be closing school. We were safe at SHS. The event taking place was a tragedy and that they would continue to monitor the situation. I had no clue what they were talking about. I had no idea that a plane had crashed into The World Trade Center. I had no idea that we were minutes away from another plane taking out the other tower. I had no concept of the dangers that were unfolding in DC as a plane was making it's way to The Pentagon.
We went back to playing our music and eventually the bell rang to send us to our next class. I had public speaking with Dr. Cook. The TV was on and it wasn't until I sat down that I realized what the announcement was about. I remember staring at the screen in horror. The buildings were crumbling. People were screaming in the background as news reporters tried to explain the chaos. The image of those planes and those buildings played on repeat ALL day, in every classroom. It continued on every channel after I got home. It played on every channel for as long as I can remember. Even to this day, at least once a year, we revisit those news stories. We review the pictures and the memories that people share. We Remember. We promised on 9/11/01 to remember and here we sit in 2019, 18 years later, keeping that promise.
In 20 days I will be running a 5K in Columbia, SC. It is a race that I wanted to do even before I discovered my love of running. I was supposed to run it as my first race last year, but hurricane Florence had other plans. I will run it this year as my final 5K in my 1st year of running. I will be running The Tunnel to Towers 5K. As explained on their web page : www.tunnel2towers.org
"The Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk Series was created to honor the heroic life and death of Stephen Siller, a New York City firefighter (FDNY) who lost his life on September 11, 2001 after strapping on his gear and running through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the Twin Towers. Honor all of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and support our first responders and military who make extraordinary sacrifices in the line of duty!"
I encourage you to go to their web page and see what all they do for our first responders.
This race will consist of 3.1 miles of patriotism. Fire fighters will run it in full gear. Military will run it as squads. Police will run it in uniform. Flags will fly. ( and fair warning ... I will probably cry) This race doesn't come with a finisher medal. It doesn't need to. I did purchase a medal from a virtual race. It is for a race called " End of Watch" It is in honor of law enforcement who have lost their lives. It will serve as my medal for this 5k on the 20th.
I do not ever post political stuff on my pages. I try very hard not to be involved with all the crazy left wing/right wing arguments. Today, I will say this. I don't care if you are left or right. I don't care if you are a member of the republican party, the democratic party, the green party, or the birthday party. I don't care if you are white, black, purple, green, multicolored, or don't identify with a race at all. No matter what side of what fence you choose to stand on. TODAY remember the sacrifices made to allow you to choose your side of the fence. Today and everyday remember, like we promised to do. Today, be American. Show patriotism because thousands of innocent people died when AMERICA was attacked. Not when the lefts were attacked. Not when the rights were attacked. Not when the martians were attacked. AMERICA. Us. WE THE PEOPLE.
God Bless.
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