I’m sure there are going to be a lot of posts about the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks coming up this weekend. And while I know there will be a lot of “where were you when…” questions, I just wanted to take a look back on my life over the last 10 years and ask you to do the same.
In the last 10 years, we’ve grown accustomed to removing shoes at the airport, not being allowed more than 3oz of liquids in our carry-on and long lines at all security checks. We now have to have a passport just to travel to Canada. Security is very tight on bases, and on our base specifically, spouses can no longer just go to any part of the base they want and see the submarines. “Loose lips sink ships” is not just a World War II saying… it’s just as relevant today.
Over the last decade, GITMO, Osama Bin Laden, IED, RPG, OEF/OIF, SEAL Team 6, have become household words that nearly everyone knows. The Middle East has gone from a faraway country to one that is regularly brought to our homes via the news (yes, it was before, but not as much nor for as long). Fourth graders have lived their entire lives with our country at war.
Ten years ago, I was a sophomore in college. I was a Resident Assistant (RA) in a freshmen dorm. I was dating a young man who wanted to become an ER/trauma surgeon and then become a flight surgeon for the Navy or Air Force (which scared the daylights out of me because... who would want to be in the military?). Not only was I an RA, but I also a housing security officer and a new reporter for my college newspaper. The evening after the attacks, I covered the story about the candlelight vigil that our campus held. It was my first article ever published.
Ten years later, I am a college graduate who frequently gets articles in the newspapers (I’m in public relations). I am no longer with the man I was then. However, I AM married to an active duty United States Navy submariner who I am immensely proud and humbled to call my husband.
And the biggest thing that has changed is I’m in the Navy (reserves) as well. This is something I’d never NEVER have thought about doing before 9/11. No way, no how. Not for me.
The September 11th attacks changed the world and how we live, think and function… how has your life changed in the last 10 years?
