Six years, today

Yesterday, Son #1 got into a political argument with a girl down the street, while walking home from the bus stop. She is convinced that:

Bush masterminded the 9/11 attacks
Bush did this "because he is an idiot"

Son #1 questioned how someone could be a mastermind and an idiot at the same time. So she moved on to her next point:

We should not fight terrorists, we should TALK to them. We should COMPROMISE.

Son #1 called her attention to the concept that people who have stated publicly that they want you to follow their religion exactly or they want you dead, are not the kinds of people you can talk into a compromise.

"But being Muslim wouldn't be that bad!"

He looked at her in her cute little outfit, blonde hair exposed to the sun, and said, "It might not be that bad for me, but if you wanted to leave the house without your brother, then being Muslim probably wouldn't be so great for you."

He came home shaking his head. He is not going to change any minds, at the bus stop, and he knows it.

And today I woke up and thought, "six years ago, today." Six years ago, this morning, some of us got a major wake-up call. Maybe not the girl down the street, but some of us. So I put our flag up, out front. I can see it from my desk. And I am so proud of my country, and of the military and governmental efforts that have, so far, prevented another 9/11 here. I am kind of a misty-eyed patriot, on my best days, so there you have it.

Son #4 was with me, when I put the flag out.

"Sooooo, does this make it a holiday?"

That's Son #4, always looking for a reason why we don't need to do school.

"No, sugar, it's not a holiday. Just a day worth remembering."