Remembering 9/11

This past Sunday began just like most Sundays do for me. I woke up, let the dog out, made coffee, breakfast and then fed the dog. It was a bright sunny day, the perfect day for the first Sunday of the NFL season. I flipped on the tube and was instantly reminded that this day had a different significance.

Mentally, I was back, sitting in my senior English class at George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester, Ky. I could see the face of my friend Katie Richards as she told us there had been an attack on the World Trade Centers. I even remembered laughing and telling her there must be a mistake. Things like that just don’t happen. We’re in America.

The next thing I remember is laying on a table in yearbook class watching CNN. They kept showing the second plane hit the tower. I had never seen anything like that in my life. It wasn’t even really emotional, mainly because it didn’t seem real. Things like that just didn’t happen to America anymore. We were supposed to be invincible.

Following watching the ceremonies corresponding to football this past Sunday, I walked outside and sat down in a chair on my back deck. It was a beautiful day. Blue sky, big puffy white clouds — the day was just like it was 10 years ago.

I started to think about that day, reflect on the past 10 years and how things had changed, both for our country and for me as an individual. Ten years ago, I was still in high school with the world in front of me. I still feel that today, but the world is a much different place. People don’t travel like they used to. Sure, we jump on planes and cruise at 30,000 feet to some great destinations around the world, but everyone has that lingering thought that something could happen.

I remember the first spring break of my college career — less than a year after 9/11. I was on my way to Florida, but our military was on its way over seas. I had a friend that had his visa revoked after he had flown overseas during spring break for the Cricket World Cup. I had friends leave college to go fight overseas. We hadn’t gone to college to go fight a war. We went so that in four years we could have great jobs, live in great houses and strive for the American dream. After 9/11 I think that the American Dream is something much more to be cherished. Clearly, it’s not something that everyone will experience.

I couldn’t help but devote this one blog to something outside of the fitness industry, but I feel half guilty for not developing a tie in somehow. However, my only tie in is to feel blessed that you get to own a business, exercise daily and spend time with your family and friends. I’m sure many of you knew people that lost their lives on that morning 10 year ago, and I’m sure you think about them daily. There are a lot of people, myself included, that didn’t know anyone involved. But, like me, there are a lot more of us now that have felt the repercussions of a single morning, 10 years earlier. We have all felt the pain, but just as humankind tends to do, we have prevailed. And, although we are still at war, we have crawled back from that day.

Hopefully, you have opened clubs and hired people, creating jobs for our country. As club owners, you are part of the turnaround for this country. You have the ability to run a successful business, hire new employees and put Americans back to work. You are the solution and the future of America! If you didn’t take time on Sunday, take a moment now and think about those heroes 10 years ago, think about where you were and be proud of the past 10 years and everything you’ve accomplished!