Remembering this moment in history…

I have No Mom Talk Monday scheduled to go up tomorrow morning first thing…but because of the significance of this event in American History, I want to make sure that I document and remember (for the sake of my son and any future children) the emotions that I’m feeling right now as I sit here and wait for the official, un-tweeted announcement that Osama Bin Laden has been killed.

I’m sitting here with my camera beside me, snapping photos from the television to document the moment. Headlines reading “OSAMA IS DEAD” are already burned in my head. We were sitting here enjoying our Sunday evening, just finished grilling cheeseburgers…the hubs and little man went to take out the garbage and I saw a quick tweet that the President was addressing the nation. “Weird…” I thought, considering it’s a Sunday night. Surely he wouldn’t be addressing the country on the devastation the tornados in Alabama did last week so late at night.

Then they started talking about how the speech was about National Security. I started to panic a bit. Were we supposed to suddenly start expecting another 9/11 attack? What would this mean for my husband and his career in the Coast Guard? Then Wolfe Blitzer mentioned that it was news that would affect the whole world…and my mind immediately went to Bin Laden.

COULD IT BE? Did we get him?

All the news started up, the tweets began and the reality sank in. Osama Bin Laden is dead. Oh my God. Osama Bin Laden is dead. What does this mean for our men and women in uniform? Our troops overseas. I’m not going to lie…this scares me a bit. Scares me for them, for our country. Anyone who thinks that retaliation won’t come for this death, is naïve and blind to the realities of warfare. It  may not come tomorrow, or even within the next few years…but, I’m afraid at some point, probably sooner rather than later, it will come.

I’m curious to see where Pakistan stands with this. Were they hiding him and pretending to be our allies? Or were they in on some hidden, double-agent style covert mission? Were they pretending they were pretending to be our allies to assist the United States in capturing him? It’s a lot to take in…especially when it comes to digesting what this means for our country and especially for our troops. But I have to admit I have never been more proud to be an American.

The President’s speech was intense. I am thankful that he made the point to mention that we are not at war with Islam…but against Al-Qaida who slaughtered so many Muslims through the years. Such an intense, intense moment. I’ll  never forget where I was when this moment went down in history. Sitting on my couch in Kodiak, Alaska…eating the leftover pack of Starbursts that the little guy got at the Commissary the other day; iPod in hand tweeting my heart out with my fellow American’s as we take the time to acknowledge and remember the deaths and sacrifices of America’s citizens that have been made over the past 20 years Bin Laden’s time in leadership.

This won’t be the end of the war with Al-Qaida. Not at all. I won’t stop praying for the men and women overseas. But for tonight, I will rejoice in the victory for the United States and the men & women in uniform who have fought tirelessly to bring justice to the lost souls of the Al-Qaida attacks. I will rejoice relentlessly for the fact that not a single American life was lost today when Bin Laden was killed.

September 11, 2001
May 1, 2011

We will never forget.

ONE nation,
Under GOD,
indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.