[Rick V]

I will never forget. The day had a crisp coolness to it as if to remind us that fall is going to be here soon. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was a shade of blue that is seldom seen here in the mid-atlantic. I was working at an independent BMW/Porsche shop and we watched the second plane hit on the TV in the break room, I was sick to my stomach.
My daughter was home from school sick that morning and the wife had stopped by with her after a Dr. appointment, and all I could do was hug my little girl. A sadness had set in that is hard to explain, I was sad that my children are going to grow up in a world that will never know what it is like to actually feel safe. I felt very bad for bringing two children into a world like the one we have now.
As I was holding my baby girl she told me "It's okay daddy, the Dr. said I just have a cold" I didn't even realize how tight I was holding her. She asked my wife later that day what was wrong with me, and my wife tried to explain to an 11 year old the events of the day.
Later that night after all of the planes were grounded, I was standing outside smoking a cig in the total darkness of country living, looking up at the sky when a jet flying dark screamed overhead not too far above the trees heading north came out of the middle of nowhere and left in the same manner. My sadness turned to pride as I knew what that plane was and it's intentions.
The anger I felt eleven years ago has not tempered with time, and I doubt it ever will. I don't know anybody that was murdered that day, and nothing was taken from me, but what they took from my children is something that can never be replaced.
It seems that the flag flew a little higher on the front of my house that day, It still flies proud today as it did everyday before the attacks.
To answer your question, NO I haven't forgotten, nor will I ever.
To our service men and woman who have served and who are serving, Thank you from a bitter old man.