Proud to Be an American

Ten years ago today, the world changed. It’s amazing to see the impact of that fateful day as an American living abroad. The country hasn’t exactly shut down (there was a Thames festival going on all day) but there were several memorial services going on throughout London, not to mention an all day broadcasting of the events in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington on BBC News. It’s incredibly surreal to watch from this point of view. I’ll come back to the heavy stuff later.

Bree and I headed out to the festival around lunch time today. We were a little apprehensive about taking public transportation as the U.S. Embassy has been sending us emails for about a week telling us to be careful about making our “Americanness” known during this anniversary weekend but we hopped on the tube anyway. We got off at the Westminster tube stop which dumps you off directly in front of Big Ben. Neither of us had gotten out at that stop so we were surprised to come up the stairs to a giant clock towering over us. It was incredibly gorgeous and a lovely surprise. We walked across the bridge toward the festival and under the London Eye. I haven’t gone on it yet, but when that day comes, someone here will have to convince me to get on. I know I want to go on it, I have to, but walking under it, you can see just how massive it really is. I’ll have to make sure I go with people who will push me on. We walked through the festival which was mostly a series of neat little shopping booths and food stands and I found some really great Christmas presents to take home for people. We must have walked several miles along the Thames just browsing and enjoying the beautiful day. We headed home later in the afternoon and have spent a good majority of our afternoon in front of the TV watching BBC News and trying not to cry.

I guess that because I grew up as an American in the generation that was so greatly affected by 9/11, I never had much of a grasp on how the rest of the world was impacted. I had no idea how many Brits were killed, not to mention people from other countries around the world. America tends to focus on America, even in worldwide events, and I wish I had known how massive the attacks really were. Maybe I was too young at the time to realize that 9/11 expanded beyond America’s borders. Fourth grade isn’t exactly a time of much deep understanding. But even in high school, my education of the tragic day focused purely on America’s perspective.

I’m not exactly a patriotic person. I’m not registered to vote and to be honest, I couldn’t tell you the details of what’s been happening overseas. But today is not a day to criticize or judge. Today is a day to remember the victims, the firefighters, and the policemen who lost their lives in this tragic event and to pray that their families find peace in God who gives it freely. Today is a day to find pride in your country and those who fight for its safety.

Today I’m proud to be an American.