A Day of Remembrance by LT Samantha Davies, USAF
I was in 6th grade. My teachers kept trying to compare what had happened to the Oklahoma City bombing, which I was too young to remember. Classmates kept getting pulled out of class and all I could think of was when is my mom going to leave. When school finally ended that day, I walked out and my mom ran up to me and gave me a big hug. At the time I thought nothing of it. She explained to me what had happened that day and she was waiting to hear when she would be tasked.
I went back to school the next day, unlike a quarter of my classmates. As I was sitting in home room a friend came up to me and said, “I saw your mom run up and hug you yesterday. I just wanted to let you know how lucky you are and how I wish my mom would do that.” It took me a minute to fully comprehend what she had just said and I had no response for her. A few years later, that same girl came up to me in the middle of the school’s 9-11 ceremony and told me that my mom’s display of love and my not caring that she was hugging me at school was her memory of 9-11.
Every year on this day I remember that conversation. I am so appreciative of the family I was raised in and that we have no fear of showing our love for each other. Today we need to lose that fear and hug those we care about a little tighter.
The way we triumph over evil is through love and showing that love. I urge you all to go out and ensure those you care about know they are important to you. I also urge you to make someone you don’t know have a little better day, even if it’s just a smile or “Have a good day”.
(Sam’s mother retired as a Major from the United States Air Force. She was the EEO Officer for 512th Airlift Wing at Dover Air Force Base, DE at the time of her retirement. The retired Major is presently a Doctor of Nursing Practice working in the Health Care industry.)
Thank you both for your service.
http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks
As The Rooster Crows 