I feel a little redundant and inadequate writing anything about September 11, so I'll be brief. Of course it's an understatement to mention how the tragedy has affected us all but I wanted Revolution Magazine to wave our flag high. I cannot and don't pretend to know the level of grief that has filled so many people who lost loved ones, but I can say that I know for every person, this is the greatest loss.

My then seven year old son watched the news a year ago today with laser focus. My youngest two children were satisfied with shallow answers, Cameron understood more. Two weeks ago he watched me get on a plane for California and my wife told me he started crying. The anniversary of 9/11 has brought the images back to every form of media and back to the forefront of everyone's mind. Last week my family took me back to the airport for a short trip to Boston. This time as soon as we pulled up to the airport I noticed Cameron trying to hold back his emotion. When I opened the van door he cracked and wailed, “Why does Daddy have to leave????” He sobbed for thirty minutes as I held him before I left. He's never mentioned flying or the fear of losing a parent, it just slowly crept into his consciousness.

Last night I watched some of the human interest news documentaries on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary and watched fathers talk about losing sons, men losing brothers, and a fire fighter's plight to search for his son, also a fire fighter. He went home every day to his son's son who would ask every day for two weeks, “Did you find Daddy?” After watching this I went to tuck my daughter into bed. Her big brown eyes were dancing with life as she giggled and grabbed my head to rub our noses together. “I love you, Daddy.” “I love you too, Ashlyn,” as I quickly turned so she wouldn't see the tears streaming down my face. In my boys' room, my four year old, Trey, bounced up and down on his bed, “Pray with me, Daddy, pray with me!!” Both boys grasped my hands, we prayed, I cried.

Countless children lost a parent a year ago and will never have moments like those. They'll never get another hug from Daddy. Their lives will never be the same. I flew out of Logan Airport three days ago to come back home. I left the same airport that the hijacked planes left from. I saw the same coastline that all those people saw. I traveled the same path but I made it home. My greatest sorrow goes out to those who lost family. My greatest sorrow…

We're all survivors, however. We all stand a year later, resolved to keep our freedom and our country strong. Around the world, others live with these circumstances and fears every day. Don't take America for granted. Contribute to it's greatness. We truly stand as the greatest and most blessed nation in the history of the world. Contribute to it's greatness.