I don't write many entries here on deviantART. I do make the effort to post at least one entry on the 9/11 anniversaries. This year was the eighth. It seems like every year that goes by as I observe this day of mourning, that I find that I cry less. Though the heart aches never dull.

While I did not know any one who was killed in the attacks, the crash of Flight 93 in Shanksville, PA hit very close to home. Literally. I've been to the site. It's a serene and windy place. I left my prized Pittsburgh Penguins hat there. I'm hoping to go back and leave flowers some time.

My uncle had worked in the D.C. Mint at the time of the 9/11 attacks and saw the damage that had been done to the Pentagon from the Mint's roof. That, to me, is very chilling.

Another year I've grown and built upon these thoughts. After the attacks, on Wednesday, September 12th, 2001; I went to school. It was a day to draw in our journals. I drew the towers collapsing. Apparently I had been the only one as I witnessed teachers looking through my notebooks rather concerned and I had been called to the office.

I had always been a mature person. And I do not blame the past few years of depression on the attacks of 9/11. But, I do believe that me being me, having such a complex understanding of the world already, that it forced me to grow up faster. I don't regret it. But, sometimes I wonder. How different would I be if I had not realized the significance in the loss of life on this day eight years ago? It was the moment on T.V., at eight years old, when I saw the towers fall for the God knows how many times repeated, that I would join the armed forces and fight for my country when I became of age. My decision has not swayed since.

Right now, all I have left to say is that everyone who died that day, in New York, Virginia & Pennsylvania, are not only my heroes, but America's heroes. Let their souls rest in peace.