I often wonder if I will ever be able to get through September 11th without crying. Someday when my little girl asks me if I remember that day, will I be able to recount it stoically as my parents did December 7, 1941? Of course, there was a difference. My parents were children in 1941, although it was my father's 14th birthday the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. It was probably the most horrific thing any of them had ever faced, but there are big differences. After all, there was a war going on even though we were not directly involved at the time, and the targets were military.

September 11th was just another day. A quiet sunny Tuesday and the world was not at war. The World Trade Center was not a military target. It was full of civilians - many of them foreigners just doing their jobs or sightseeing. And everything about it was beyond shocking…it was worse than any of us could have imagined.<lj-cut>

There are, of course, so many things I remember about that day. So many things I doubt I will ever be able to forget. The images of those smoking buildings are forever burned in my consciousness - I see them as vividly today as I did that day on live television. The knowledge of not only those who were in the building and not able to get out, but those who went in to try and rescue others, knowing that they probably wouldn't make it out. The world truly saw what heroes are that day. They are not action stars or politicians or athletes. They are simply men and women doing their jobs, risking their lives on a daily basis so that others might be kept safe. They are passengers on an airplane willing to die if it means that no one else will be hurt or an important symbol of our country will not be damaged. They are people desperately trying to get out of a burning building taking time to help others get out as well even if it slows their progress down. They are just people who went to work one day thinking they would be back with their families in a few hours having to find a way to say goodbye. And they are those who left no stone unturned just in case someone had survived even as the days passed and hope grew dimmer and dimmer that they would find anyone else alive.

The thing I remember most about that day and the days to come is that for awhile - if only a little while - our country was as united as I had ever seen in my life. The entire Senate stood on the steps and sang "God Bless America". Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents all had only one goal in mind and that was to stand together and bring America to her feet again to stand tall and proud. Flags were everywhere - flying from people's homes, their cars, on their desks, and worn on their clothes. We weren't men and women, black and white, Catholic and Protestant. We were simply Americans. We had been attacked and just as any family does when attacked from an outside source, we stood together as one.

But that was three years ago. Today the country is as divided as I ever remember seeing it in my lifetime. Now we are again siblings fighting amongst ourselves even while we are still threatened from without. This divisiveness is detestable. And I will not and cannot blame it on one person, one party, one action, one belief. No, this divisiveness comes from both sides of the aisle. The Democrats are to blame just as much as the Republicans are. And it needs to stop. In no way am I suggesting we put down our beliefs and support the president no matter what. I only want the negativity and the mud-slinging and never-ending fighting to end. This country is based on the freedom to speak our minds and that should never EVER be taken away. However, there comes a point when we need to work together and not against each other. Certainly both sides have good points and they should be listened to. Campaigning in the past 15 years or so has gotten nastier and nastier and that is NOT what it should be about. Whether our Commander in Chief is Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, whatever, he is our president. That is not to say we have to agree with everything he does or says or every decision he makes. But this anger and vitriol has got to end. There are better ways to disagree than what has been going on.

The bottom line here is that there are threats not only to our lives but to our basic way of life and we need to take them seriously and find a way to take care of it in a way that both sides can agree on. We are the UNITED States and though we may not always agree, we need to be united or we will fall - no matter who the president is.