Has it really been that long?

One year ago, Bekah and I had just moved in to a new apartment. Between boxes, baby, dog, and trying to get settled we had ignored any significant events across the nation.

Two years ago, I had just moved to the Coeur d’Alene area. Christian had just been born, I was acclimating to a new job, new people, and new surroundings. The rules of life were being rewritten. The first couple of months here were blurry.

Three years ago we lived in Sioux Falls. There was a memorial event that I wanted to go to, but we never made it, yet now… I’m not sure why.

Four years ago Bekah and I were engaged and beginning to plan our wedding. We lived In Boise. I wore a blue oxford shirt over a red t-shirt and white pants to work. I felt as if that day was important and we were all apart of something that would be remembered. I was working at DirecTV, and oddly, it was just another day. We observed a minute of silence at the right time, and the TVs in the center were tuned into anniversary coverage. But customers called in with questions about their bill or services just like they would have on any other day.

Sometime that day, I typed up a short letter that I e-mailed out to everyone I knew. You can find a slightly amended version of that letter on my other blog.

Five years ago, I woke up in a different world. I had woke up (earlier than normal) and settled into my routine of watching whatever looked interesting on TV before getting ready for work. The night before I had fallen asleep watching the most boring thing I could think of, FOX news. I turned on the TV just in time to watch the south tower fall.

I called my best friend Steve, and told him to turn on the TV. But at that obsene hour of the morning he wanted to kill me for waking him up. "Why" he asked. I said "Trust me, just turn it on" and hung up. He called me back about two minutes later.

Normally I'd only watch TV for about a half hour before eating breakfast or taking a shower. But that morning I couldn't draw myself away from the TV. I was working at Old Navy at the time, but I didn't have to be there till noon. I drove out there but thankfully, they had the good sense to close the store for the day. Who in their right mind would want to go shopping during a national tragedy.

But has it really been five years? It seems as if it was a whole lifetime ago. Nothing has really changed in our national culture. No shift in the way we think or act. It's almost as if the real tragedy is not the act of terror, but a lack of change since then. We are still the same bunch of greedy prideful Americans we always have been.