A little over 15 years ago, I remember being a small four-year-old child. I barely knew the alphabet, how to tie my shoes, or how to transfer fragments of thought into organized and complete sentences. I remember feeling effortless. I didn't have a worry in the world besides if I had the coolest new polly pocket or CD to add to my collection. On any given day I could sit in my backyard and make paper mache crafts when I wanted or watch Barney or the Rugrats in the comfort of my own home without being afraid of what was going on right outside my door and for that I am grateful. But as I was eating all the cheerios and fruit snacks in the world, there was a bigger issue around me. A young, innocent child didn't understand what terror was besides getting scared on Halloween. A four year old didn't know that there were people in the world intentionally trying to hurt one another like a tv show or movie she once saw. A child couldn't comprehend that the country that she was born in, the one she would grow up in, was being attacked only but a few hours from her doorstep. She was shielded from the fact that hundreds, even thousands of innocent people were being killed and injured due to another's dislike or disagreement with another group of people's thoughts, morals, or actions.
Fast forward to today. Today, a day like any September day isn't concrete. Anything can happen at any time and unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it. We live in a world where bad things happen. We live in a world where in the past nine months alone, there have been 10 terror related attacks on US soil. Ten. Think about the extent of that. Ten. You could count each of these occurrences on all your fingers and the year isn't even over. This is what is scary about the world. You could be wondering with your family through New York City one night and hear about bombs be found the next. You could be at a nightclub with your friends or significant other and hear about 50 innocent people being killed and even more injured the next day. Each of these days felt just like any other. January 7th, February 11th, June 12th, July 7th, July 17th, August 20th, and Finally September 17th all stand in history as days that seemed like a normal day but quickly became engrained in our minds as a day of sadness and grief. This sad truth about our nation goes beyond terrorism, it extends to the numerous law enforcement officers shot dead in the line of duty, the rapists and pedophiles getting away with their crimes unscathed, and the other crimes that go unnoticed or not broadcasted on the news. This is happening everywhere, from California to New York, Montana to Texas, and everywhere in between. It is happening at our back doors and there is nothing going on to acknowledge or stop this problem from happening. These kinds of things don't just happen in certain neighborhoods, cities, or states. These things happen everywhere and It's our job to protect each other so it doesn't.
