"America has never been unnited by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgroudns, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens."
- George Bush (9/11)

The anniversary of September 11th is quickly approaching and it's always a time (at least for me) for reflection. We take our own freedom for granted and rarely reflect on the many lives that have been given to assure that it remains. I remember that the country felt so united after 9/11. It seemed more important for us all to remain there for each other to be able to work through the tragedy. People that never helped or donated their time to volunteer, were making a contribution to help. It was a horrific event that allowed to country to actually seem to work together to mend.

It's unfortunate that only a handful of years later and the country is willing to gnaw at itself and people are more concerned with what car the neighbor next door drives rather than trying to help someone that actually needs help.

If there is anything that we could take away from 9/11, I wish it was that our time in this life is short and that, unless we learn to help each other and take care of the country, we are doomed to repeat our past mistakes and failures. We are an amazing group of people living in an amazing country during an amazing time - it would do us all a great deal of good to remember that.