Defining Moments

We all have them. These moments play a role in making us who we are (and are becoming). Hence the term "defining moments"...It's official folks, I speak with the wisdom of Solomon. Most of the time these defining moments are quite personal affecting only one individual or a small group. But every once in awhile there is an event or a moment when an entire population is affected. Whether they are personal or all-inclusive, these moments cause us to pause because in that instant something has changed. Something is different. And often these moments are used as references in time..."That was before _____" or "I did that after_____".


As I type I can think of a few personal defining moments or events that forever changed me. The first one that comes to mind is the arrival of Ethan. My only-child world was absolutely rocked at the tumultuous age of 14. When I was a little girl, I cried and begged and prayed for a baby brother or sister, but by the time I was around 9, I had come to love my little world of undivided attention from mom and dad and my ability to play independently without having to fight someone for a toy. So by the time 8th grade rolled around I was worried about important things like how to tame my frizzy hair and which shirt looked best with my Guess jeans. I had no time for infants in my busy schedule. Or so I thought. Of course I wouldn't trade Ethan for all the oil in Alaska, and that's saying a lot considering the price of gas these days. It was lonely being the only. And I kind of like the role of big sister. There are other moments too like accepting Jesus as my Savior and turning 25 that were integral in making me who I am today, but I think I'm going to devote an entire blog post to each of those events one day soon. I've been putting those together in my head for awhile now, but they are still under construction.


Now for the defining moments that entire groups of people remember. You know...the ones where people can remember exactly what day it was, where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. Like when Kennedy was assassinated or when Elvis died. Or when our grandparents hear the date December 7, 1941 it is more to them than just something that had to be memorized for history class. I can remember exactly where I was the day the Challenger exploded. It was January 28 which also happens to be my grandmother's (MuMu) birthday. I was actually at Mu's house because schools were closed that day due to snow, so I was thrilled to be able to watch on TV the launch of the Challenger. I was sitting at the bar in her kitchen eating lunch (I'm sure it consisted of milk, eggs and bread since it was a snow day in Georgia, after all) and watching the TV. Even my little 6 year old mind knew that something was wrong when it exploded and the smoke wasn't supposed to look like that. Fast forward to my last semester of college. It was a Tuesday during fall semester, and I only had one class early that morning. After class, I hurried back home to get ready for work and then made it to The Smith House just in time for my shift to start. When I got there, most of the kitchen staff was crowded around the TV, but I wasn't really paying attention nor was I curious as to why they were watching TV instead of frying chicken and making mashed potatoes. Then the North tower collapsed. Needless to say I started paying attention. The work day was a fog. I just went through the motions but that was ok because everyone else was doing the same thing. 3:00 could not come soon enough. I just wanted to go to my house and watch the news to try to get some sense of understanding and an explanation of what was happening. But how can you explain terrorism? How can one make sense of that? I wanted to be with my family, but a trip home wasn't realistic. Besides, I was so rattled, I didn't want to leave the safe-haven of a small little town in the North Georgia mountains. So my roommates and I sat gathered around our itty bitty TV hanging onto the words of the reporters and heart-breaking images of that day. Life as we had known it had changed forever. Not only was I so sad, I was angry. How dare a group of individuals take away my sense of security and safeness and replace it with feelings of uncertainty and fear. If they could pull this off, what else were they capable of? Honestly I choose not to think about this anymore because why sit around pondering "what if?" all day long? What would this mean for all of my camo wearing friends and classmates? We know today that it eventually meant deployment(s) and becoming war veterans. September 11, 2001 is a date that will be an answer on a history test for the majority of anyone who is Micah's age or younger. He was 3 at the time, and has no memory of it when it happened. But for the rest of us, it is a date that will bring back memories and a mix of emotions. And while it was a defining moment for our Nation as a whole, it was also very personal for each of us. We will never be the same as we were 7 years ago before September 11 and many things have changed in the aftermath. But I believe there's one thing that hasn't: This is still a great place with more good eggs than bad ones and I'm so thankful that it is my home.