Yes, I am still on vacation and should probably be focusing on more important things right now like my family, the 85 degree weather here today, or the fact that we are visiting some old friends that we haven't seen in FAR too long.
Yet, as I awoke this morning and turned on the Today show, I was bombarded once again with images and stories regarding the death of Osama Bin Laden. This is the news today, and has been for the past 48 hours. Luckily, I have been able to avoid a lot of it because I am on vacation, but it is unavoidable completely and as such, I seem to be unable to get it far from my mind.
The moment I heard the news will probably be one of those "where were you when..." moments that you never forget. Like the time I was shopping with my brothers friend Nate Cox in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia when we heard the news of Princess Diana's death. Or the morning I turned on the TV as I was getting ready for work, only to sink to the ground in tears as I saw planes crashing into the World Trade Center.
This time, I had just returned to our hotel room in sunny San Diego, after enjoying a delicious Mexican dinner and fun date with Mikey, to see my parents sitting solemnly in front of the television. I saw the image of President Obama speaking as my Dad whispered the words, "they killed him". At first I thought he meant the president and I didn't believe him, but then he added, "Bin Laden". Mike and I quietly joined them and listened to the President confirming that in fact Osama Bin Laden had been found and had been killed, and no American lives had been lost in the mission.
I watched tears forming in my father's eyes as I tried to process what all of this meant. Would this bring our troops home? Would this cause more death and suffering through retaliation and retribution? I remember feeling very somber and a little sad.
Then the celebrating began. Images started coming through of thousands of Americans cheering in the streets all over the country and breaking out in spontaneous song, singing patriotic anthems and chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" Again, my first thought was, "should we really be celebrating that a man was just murdered? Even if it was one of the most evil men ever to have lived?" I knew that Bin Laden was now facing the only One who had the right to judge him, and he will receive his just and deserved punishment, that I am SURE of! So I didn't feel right that people were cheering about his death.
But then I thought, "What if one of my cousins, who have honorably served in the military, had lost their lives because of this man? How would I feel if Mike had been killed in New York City 10 years ago? Or in action trying to bring him to justice? How much sorrow would have been building in my heart having to live a life without him because of this man?"
I think I would've felt much differently.
Slowly my heart began to remember the immense patriotism that blanketed our country in the days and months following the attack on the Twin Towers, and that is what I heard again in those celebrations. I heard people who love their country, just like my Dad, who are grateful to be rid of the one man who was trying the hardest to hurt us.
I still don't think it is right to celebrate a man being killed, but I will celebrate that the families of those lost may now feel some small bit of peace. I hope his death will help them to feel some closure and that it will bring more peace to all mankind.
May God bless America and us all!!
