rising above

Early on the morning of September 11, 2001, I was a sophomore in college heading up the hill to my first class of the day. As I walked past the open windows of the other apartments in my complex, I noticed that the televisions in every single one of them were tuned into the same thing, but I couldn't tell what it was. A few minutes later, as I sat in class waiting for my teacher to arrive, another student rushed in and told us to turn on the TV, a plane had just hit the World Trade Center. We didn't get reception in that basement classroom, so class continued on as usual, but once we were dismissed, my classmates and I found ourselves congregating around one of the many common area televisions on campus glued to the news. It was there that I watched the second tower fall.

A few evenings later I went on a walk with my roommate, Julie. We talked together about the scary, uncertain world we were living in, the world we would eventually raise our families in. We were discouraged and a little fearful about the future. How would we manage to teach our children to chose good in a world that could be so evil?

But we didn't need to be so downhearted. In the aftermath of that day, amid a surge of faith I found myself sharing with my fellow citizens, I accomplished many wonderful things. I completed my formal education, met and married Blake, moved across the country, and brought two darling little boys into the world. While there have been occasional reasons to feel disheartened, there have been so many more causes to be joyful. I've learned, too, that my children have the ability to make good choices, even when they are surrounded by poor ones.

This week I took comfort in the words of our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, which were published in the Washington Post. It was gentle reminder that, even when it seems that everything is falling down around me, my Heavenly Father does love me, as He loves all of His children, and that "whether it is the best of times or the worst, He is with us." No matter what hard things haunt my past or lie waiting for me in my future, He will be there to comfort me and remind me when I forget that this world was created for me to enjoy.

This afternoon I watched the Music and the Spoken Word special, 9/11: Rising Above. The opening song, "Shenandoah," which was punctuated with scenic shots of the varied American landscape, reminded me further that, despite the tragedies and horrors that have pierced our soil and our souls over the years, this country, with all of its imperfections, is still a beautiful place and it is privilege to live here -- and now. I am blessed indeed.

The tower lights as seen from our roof, sunrise September 12, 2011