meaningful nonsense: Have You Forgotten?

REAL HEROES WEAR ACUS & COMBAT BOOTS.

^Emily took this picture.

Where were you when the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 happened? I will NEVER forget that Tuesday morning. Me & my brother, Michael were getting ready to go to school and we were watching the news, like usual, when all of a sudden the newscasters interrupted their boring dialog about the weather & traffic reports to bring us breaking news. An airplane had hit one of the World Trade Center building in New York City. This was such a travesty in my little mind. I know me & my brother asked my mom a BILLION questions. Then, what seemed like only seconds later, a second plane hit into the other tower. At this point, I am only 11 and my young mind cannot comprehend the words that came out of the mouth of the newscaster's mouth--"America is under attack." I remember my mom crying and just trying to answer our questions as well as she could. She only knew as much as the news was telling her. We went on to school and had to wonder what was going on at home while we were in school. I remember hearing the teachers talking amongst themselves about whether or not they terrorists would try to attack the St.Louis Arch next... The fear we all had, as middle schoolers, was obvious. So they all had us go to the gym and they talked to us about it. When I got home from school, I remember for the next three weeks, or it seemed like it anyway, that is all that was on the t.v. I always knew that THOUSANDS of people died in the buildings & the Penn. field, but i didn't realize exactly HOW many troops were being killed until a few years later.

I am not sitting here claiming to know how it feels to be with somebody in the military. And I cannot sit here and tell you I know how it feels to have to keep my phone on my hip because my bf/husband/family member may call at anytime & may only have 2 minutes to talk. I can't sit here and tell you that I know what it's like to wonder if my significant other is alive or dead due to the fact that all communication in Iraq or Afghanistan has been blacked out. But I can tell you that I know it is taxing on both the spouse/family & the soldier. This year i have visited Fort Bliss countless times, I have witnessed the homecoming of my best friend's husband [one of the most beautiful things i have ever witnessed in my LIFE.] I have seen what these boys go through-- VOLUNTARILY. It breaks my heart that people don't stand behind our troops, especially since every man and woman who is fighting &/or has fought in OIF has enlisted them self. Sorry for that rant, just thought I would throw it in there :D.

Today, me, E, A & Jack-Jack went to Fort Bliss & took tons of pictures since we will probably never be able to visit this base again. We saw alot of military vehicles [humvees, trucks, tanks etc...] being transported, which generally means that somebody is getting ready to deploy :[. After witnessing taps again, [if you don't feel something when you see taps, there is something wrong with you.] we drove down to the Fort Bliss cemetery. We didn't see any graves from OIF, but we saw headstones engraved with every other war we have fought. The saddest part for me was seeing all of the flags that people had placed beside the headstones. To think that I was standing among true HEROES. I will never forget this day. Thank you, Emily for sharing your Army life with me. It will always be something I will remember & cherish as long as I live. :D

>>>THANK YOU, MICHAEL EVANS FOR BEING MY "BROTHER" & ONE OF MY HEROES.

Onto a few lighter notes...

Today we had quite a few funny things happen-- they are as follows;

Allyssa had the door at the shopette held for her by a beautiful soldier & decided to open the other door for herself and walked right on through... I got voted to stay in the car with the baby-- REALLY? :[
Emily then couldn't get the gas to pump, which she had JUST teased me about, not even TWO days ago.
We had to go off post just for somEbody to go "shock n' awe" in her own bathroom-- PRINCESS.
On the way back to Emily's apartment, I waved at the most beautiful soldier who was riding his harley down the highway, i got a triple take, and he even rode for a little while with his head turned around.
Me & Allyssa went to Walgreens, but here you have to go past it to get back to it-- thanks, El Paso for being quite the confusing city.
On the way TO Walgreens, i felt the need to press the button to ENTER the gate... you don't need to press the button when exiting.
Allyssa got a towel out of Emily's bathroom to lay on her lap so she wouldn't make a mess... as soon as Emily said something to her about it and Allyssa said that she doesn't make messes, she set her arm directly into the plate of hotdog & chili-- NICE, A!
Last but NOT least: Emily was stopped at a red light. The van next to us had a big stuffed white tiger in the back. She then proceeds to tell us that she had to look twice-- she thought it was real BAHAHA.