Where Were You?

I was on my second cup of coffee, in a comfortable recliner in my own home. I remember the disbelief, shock, anger, and overwhelming sadness. As I watched the images flashing on the screen, heroes began rising up from among everyday people and a wave of pride joined my confused emotions.

I remember feeling compelled to find my grown kids immediately, to locate my husband, my parents, and my friends. I’ll never forget the depth of my emotions that day and the weeks and months that followed, even though I was many miles away from New York City with no direct connections to the thousands of lives lost in the fire and rubble of the largest terrorist attack in our nation’s history. I don’t know how that day affected you and yours. For those directly impacted by the loss of a friend or family member, I’m sure each anniversary brings fresh pain. My prayers go out to you. This segment is an annual All Things Southern tribute and my humble effort not to allow a politically correct climate to whitewash the memory of that horrific assault on our country.

Today’s “It’s Been Said” segment initially ran on September 11^th, 2002. We quote a man born and raised in Newman, Georgia. The lanky blond-haired, blue-eyed musician had already “arrived” in the music business a long time before September 11th, 2001. But the raw and sincere words he put to music memorializing that day became a career defining hit and offered cords to bind the wounded and grieving with their fellow Americans and help us heal as a nation.

In today’s southern quote we honor the victims of the 9-11 attack on America and those who are still missing them today. In the now familiar words of Alan Jackson, “Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?”