Fourteen years ago today, terrorists attacked our country, taking innocent lives in New York City and in Washington, D.C.

I think we all remember what we were doing that day. Personally, I was at United Supermarket Arena for a career day for local schools.

Every media outlet in Lubbock was there. We were all stationed at tables in the main concourse and the TVs were on up above. I remember we all seemed to look up at the TVs at the same time, seeing one plane hit the first World Trade Center tower. I thought, as many did, that it was a scene from a movie on one of the national morning shows.

Much to our surprise and horror, the second plane hit and we slowly came to the realization that 'Oh my God, this is really happening.'

In the midst of the chaos and confusion, order was still held. We had hundreds of children in the building that we had to get back to their parents. We didn't know yet that our nation would virtually go on lock-down.

Being in media, we all had to get back to our respective media outlets to find out what exactly was going on and report on it.

The children were taken care of in such a calm and cool manner. I applaud the school and arena officials for handling the situation in such a wonderful manner.

The days, weeks and months following were grievous and strenuous, but at the same time, we all came together in our city, our state and our nation. We remembered in the face of extreme hardship and adversity what it meant to be an American.

In recent months it seems like we have gotten so far away from that closeness and unity.  We all seem to be at each other's throats for one issue or another. But why? Because the enemy, however and whomever you see it as, wants us divided amongst ourselves.

If only we could agree to disagree on some things and decide to agree that we are a nation of many different cultures, creeds and backgrounds. If we could focus on being unified as a country for us and for the world, we would see, together, a brighter future for us and our generations to come.

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