I'm Late...On a Very Important Date

I was a little late to work this morning because I got caught up in watching the 9/11 ceremony at Ground Zero. There are so many other things I wanted to blog about today, but after listening to people read the names of their loved ones who were killed in the WTC attack, I'm in a rather somber mood. It's amazing that after 5 years I still cry when the people reading the names of victims get to the part where they read the name of their own husband or wife. I can't fathom how hard it must be to lose a spouse, let alone in such a hideous and unexpected way.

The image I included today came from the University Daily Kansan (the KU student newspaper). It's a mosaic of over 2,000 images of students on campus wearing red, white and blue t-shirts. It reminded me of how patriotic and united the country was immediately following 9/11. How sad to me that in five short years, the U.S. is now as divided as it's ever been. I was struck this morning by some interviews with New York firefighters who volunteered for the armed services immediately following 9/11, with every intention of fighting against the enemy who attacked us. While some of them still believed they were helping to prevent another attack of the same sort, I still sensed a frustration that they had been sent to fight in a war which was completely unrelated to the attack they were hoping to avenge. A war, which according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, has cost us the lives of 2,669 U.S. soldiers to date.