9-11

Everyone always asks "Where were you when..." and while that moment, that time period is forever ingrained in my memory, I have wondered a different question in the last few days. How have our lives changed because of this?

It was September 11, 2001 and I (Melissa Garrett) was asleep in my dorm room at Illinois State University. I had gone to bed the night before thinking about how badly I needed to pack my suitcase for my upcoming trip. I had, just the day before, talked to my dad about the details of him coming down to get me to take me to O'Hare airport.

I woke to a phone call from a good friend of mine to hear "I don't think you'll be going to California." In a state of confusion I asked why only to hear a few simple words, "Turn on your TV." I turned on my TV to see the second plane flying into the tower. I was so confused and had no idea what was happening and how this would affect my trip to California.

While I stared blankly at the television in my room, Kevin was thousands of miles away awaiting his family and I for family week and graduation from Marine Corps boot camp. I couldn't pick up the phone and call him. I hadn't talked to him in months. All he knew was that on September 12th, my flight from Chicago to San Diego would finally bring me to him.

I watched the terror unfold and eventually made my way to my 11:00 class. It was a freshman seminar class called "Foundations of Inquiry." I don't think there was a more appropriate class or professor for that moment in time. We all had questions, we all feared that Chicago was next and since a large majority of our families lived up north, we were beside ourselves. We talked about what we knew, we might have watched the news, we talked about our fear of war beginning because of it.

War!? My boyfriend is graduating Marine Corps boot camp in three days and we are facing a possible war? In that moment I was selfish. I didn't understand the magnitude of the events at the time. I was only worried about Kevin being sent overseas and about me making it to see his graduation. I had a knot in my stomach at such thoughts.

But as the hours unfolded into days and we began to learn about the lives lost, about the heroes' sacrifices, about the families grieving, I began to realize that this country, my life, our lives would never be the same. And today, I have a different knot in my stomach. I hurt for those that gave it all and am very aware of how different our lives are ten years later.

Needless to say, I did not go to California. I couldn't. I was determined to get on a plane anyway but it just was not happening. Instead, I sat in class crying with people I hardly knew, sat in front of televisions watching the same thing over and over again, and attended a rally on the quad with thousands of people that came together for one reason. This was our country, our freedom, and we were brothers and sisters protecting it all at that very moment.

I am forever indebted to those that lost their lives that day and have realized that much of what has happened in my life, this country, and the lives of so many in the last ten years is a direct result of that day.

You see, Kevin was supposed to serve five years in the Marine Corps. I was supposed to stay at Illinois State until he got done. We had our wedding date planned for sometime in 2007. We'd live in the southwest suburban area, I'd be a special education teacher, he'd be....well...we hadn't figured that part out yet. But we had a plan. A different plan. Not a better or a worse plan, but a different one.

So here we are today. Kevin has been in the Marine Corps for ten years, we've been married for eight and a half, Kevin has been to "war" three times and life is just completely different than we had planned. Something happened after 9-11, war began, deployments were scheduled, and fear or panic set in. We, and many other military couples decided to get married and fast. It was quite the phenomenon, really, we thought that getting married would allow us to be together forever. We changed all of our plans and made new ones. I moved to North Carolina, finished school here and began my teaching career here too. We started our family here and have three little boys that will never grasp the true concept of what happened. And as every few years come to an end and it is time to decide our next step, those papers keep getting signed again for one more go with the Marine Corps. We've had many people come in and out of our lives and have been touched by Marines and other service members that have given it all.

I am so thankful to God for our family, our friends, and our life here but continue to pray for those that lost their lives and for those that were directly impacted by the moments of that September day. I realize and understand now that because of that day; their plans, their dreams, their lives have even more drastically changed forever. And I will never forget.

{Photo courtesy of Amanda White Photography}