The dark of night

 Late last night we first heard that Osama Bin Laden had been killed.  Pieces of the story kept filtering in throughout the coverage and eventually we heard it was the SEALs that carried out the mission.  More details were available when we woke up this morning and as each detail was revealed, I was surprised at the emotions that it was evoking.  Although I didn't know anyone that died in the attacks of September 11, I grieved the loss and the attack on my country.  I have always been patriotic but since that day, it means even more to me to be an American.  Feelings were stored and the knowledge that he was still out there didn't seem to be "important", at least on a conscious level.    I wanted us to get him but I also know that Al Queda is not just one person...even if OBL was dead, the hate and terrorists would go on under new leadership.  Hearing that Bin Laden was dead and that our SEALs killed him in a daring operation took a bit to really sink in...once it did, I felt as if we had "won"...something, I don't know...but I reflected back on that day almost 10 years ago and what has happened in our country since then...it made me sad, and it made me grit my teeth and think "yes!"  So many lives have been sacrificed and because of him, we will never be the same. 

I think of men who continue to fight bravely and men who have died so that this will does not happen again...so that I can sleep at night and  raise my son in the United States of America with the freedoms we occasionally take for granted.  I hope we will be even greater than we were before.  I hope that we won't use this as politic fodder for the next election, even as I know that it will happen.  I hope that I don't take a day for granted as often happens.  Many of those who went to work on 9/11/01 were thinking of their work day, their morning cup of coffee...kissing their loved ones a quick good bye, not dreaming that it would be their last.  Call me Debbie Downer but I think of this all the time...every time I say good bye to a loved one...what if this is our last conversation?  last kiss?  last visit?  Am I doing all I can to LIVE?  Be the best I can be?  ...Somehow if I try to live my life with this mindset...living for each moment, never taking them or my loved ones for granted... I hope to honor, in a small way, those that gave their all in defense of my freedom.  And in this moment, I hope that the evil ones who still wish our country harm know that we will get them, too. 
Thank you Lord for those men who in the middle of the dark night fast roped out of helicopters into hostile territory and into the firefight, not knowing if they would ever see their loved ones again.  But doing so all the same because of their willingness to pay the price for our freedom and to serve justice to this evil man.  And thank you President Obama for not dropping a bomb like you could've done...we needed this.  God Bless America.