Justified

I am happy today.
The ceiling is finished being painted...
so not as young as I used to be!
Ten years ago, I would have painted all day
and into the night and next morning,
until all the work was done.
It has taken me four days to finish!

Many things have changed in ten years.

Today is a celebration of a kind that I fear
anyone born after or around 1990 doesn't fully understand.

It was reported that Osama Bin Laden was killed last night.
The Navy Seals and our military accomplished amazingly well
something that has been happening for ten years.
There were celebrations in Washington DC,
New York City at ground zero,
fireworks were fired in South Bend....
Sighs of relief were exhaled.

However, many of our young people don't get
the sense of justification.

I remember 9-11-2001 very well.
An uncle came in and told me to turn on the television.
Every channel was covering the airplane that hit
the world trade center.
We watched in confusion as the next plane hit the second tower.
This couldn't be an accident!
We watched as President Bush was informed that the nation was under attack.

Terry was working in Lafayette IN at the time, and I called him right away.
He didn't know anything was wrong yet.
I was so afraid!
I wanted him with me and our children, V was 15, Hil was 13.
For days the country watched in horror as buildings fell,
people died, the country came together, people mourned.

My concern for our young is that war is all they have ever known.
Security in airports is nothing for them to pass through,
without shoes or privacy.
Have we become jaded because of lack of remembering or knowing?
So many violent movies, so many video games and even cartoons.
It's like we have pushed the horror and memory under the rug.

Families of lost firefighters, military,
WTC workers have never forgotten.
I am so grateful for all of our armed servicemen and women
Is it because of them that we have forgotten the tragedy?

We are still at war.
We must be especially careful now because of
the crazies with their own sense of justice
to claim because of this man's death.

Justice is mine says the Lord, and I am all for God's justice!
There is evil in the world.
Celebrating a man's death is not for us to do.
The only human response to the end of an evil, is to rejoice though.
We must keep the perspective of the truth.

Yes, I am celebrating for myself,
the fear this man caused and for the families of those taken
in NYC, Pennsylvania and Washington DC.
and all the other countries where he caused terror.

Maybe we should allow our young teens now
to watch and feel the horror.
Maybe they will understand a bit.
However, I do not remember the horror of WW2, Vietnam,
even Kennedy's assasination.
I understand the history,
but not the pain of living through it.

I feel that we need to try to soften the hearts
of those who are living through these times,
but do not fully understand why.

I know my own daughters don't fear travel to other countries,
worry about saving for hard times, or caution at all!
I remember feeling that nothing could happen to me,
as I see that same mindset in my children.

Off my soapbox!
USA! USA! USA!
We are all blessed today!