[ModKonnie]

As an American, I will never forget 9/11. While I do not live in New York City, I was still seriously affected by the events of the day. I live out in the country in Indiana. For a brief while, we thought Armageddon had started. We had no clue what was going on or what would continue to go on.
I was on the phone with my brother, and we were watching NBC news and debating whether the first plane was deliberate or an accident. We saw the second plane hit on the television and literally freaked out. It seemed like seconds later as we were stunned and shocked that reports started pouring in that there were other hijacked planes headed for Washington DC. It was when the Pentagon was hit and they scrambled fighter jets as they closed U.S. air space, that we became terrified. My brother screamed into the phone, "Get into town, fill up your gas tank, get your money out of the bank and get as much water as you can." (He lives in rural Arkansas). I prayed the entire time I was loading my four kids into my van that God would keep us safe.
We were scared communication would be cut off, and we would be left in the dark as to what we should be doing, preparing for or expecting. Many of us sent our children outside to watch for wayward planes or fighter jets. I packed up my children, drove to my sister's house in town, and we sat there glued to the television and made contingency plans to get to our parents, who lived in another state. Each one of my siblings called to say they loved us, and we discussed our strategies for worst case scenarios in the event it was World War III. Honestly, it was such a scary day for us.
By the time I got to Walmart (the only place in town to shop), it was packed. The bank tellers, managers and cashiers were crying as they watched the televisions set up in Walmart. People were rusing to get supplies, but strangely, it was very quiet and orderly. Everyone I saw was or had been crying. People were in shock. While I was in line, a man came screaming through the Walmart entrance hollering "There is going to be a gas shortage in just a few hours and prices are rising by the minute." Luckily, I had gotten my gas tank filled first. People left the lines of Walmart and ran to get in the gas lines at the pumps. I've never seen such long lines in my life. You have to understand that for those of us who live in rural areas, we rely solely on our own vehicles to get places. There is no public transportation, and many of us live miles and miles from town. Without gas, we are trapped; our lives are completely shut down.
Throughout the day, most of us stayed on the phones and by the televisions. Honestly, the other thing that most people in my area did was to clean their guns and stock up on their ammo. Had I had the money that day, I probably would have bought weapons, because we just weren't sure if we were going to need them or not. As night approached, an American pride and spirit of unity spread over our town. Without exaggeration, I can tell you in my town, there was not one single household or business that had not dusted off their American flag and hung it out (me included). My husband pulled up from work with an American flag streaming off of his pickup truck bed. I had to laugh about it, because beforehand, he was so non-patriotic. The even funnier thing about that is--the next day, as I drove to my sister's house, I didn't see a single pickup truck WITHOUT an American flag flying off their truckbed. The newspaper printed paper flags for people who didn't already own one. They were everywhere I looked.
Later that week, word spread through town that the entire country was going to be asked to go outside and stand in their driveways at 8 p.m., light a candle and sing "God Bless America." My kids were at gymnastics that evening. I was there, and at 8 p.m., I had planned to go outside to participate with my children. We were going to go to my sister's house because it was in town and closer. I tear up as I recall this part of the story. At 7:40 p.m., the gymnastics coach stopped all classes. She brought in boxes of candles, gave each kid a candle and lined them up. Parents were also asked to come to the lobby and get a candle. We all silently walked outside, formed a circle, and I (who cannot sing) was asked to lead us in the song. As we looked around, literally, the entire town was outside in their yards, driveways and parking lots of businesses with candles. We reverently sang, said a prayer and stood there as we knew we were trully the United States of America at that moment. The kids and I will never forget that.
To end this rambling commentary, as I contemplate the 10th anniversary of that tragic day, I will never forget. It changed all of us who remember.
God Bless America.
ModKonnie