Ten years ago today, Adam, my first child, was lying in bed with me. He was only 15 months old and we were snuggling under the covers. My three month old Seth was still asleep in the nursery. Jeff called me and told me to turn the television on, and I stood there in shock and watched the tragedy unfold. How strange, to be so aware of misery actively occurring hundreds of miles away. That misery soon reached across the country and around the globe as we realized the extent of lives lost, and how heroic and brave and stalwart and true so many of those people were.

I remember not even comprehending how people who didn't even know us could hate us so much. I have to admit it was not in my nature to even truly understand this. As the years go by, I have learned that evil doesn't have to be comprehended to exist. The people who planned, prepared, and executed this terrible act want to take away our agency. They want to see us as they are, chained to an ideology that would actively work to murder fathers, mothers, daughters and sons in terrifying and horrific ways. No thank you.

The results of this act have been war. I know people who have given their lives protecting our freedom. Has it been worth it? I believe if we didn't fight we would just see more 9/11's; so I have to say, 'Yes, it has been worth it'.

I am certainly not one who blames Muslims in general for this act. I would, however, hope to hear more Muslim voices unrestrictedly condemning these actions. I would also like to see active work within the Muslim community to reform those factions which practice violence and hate. I know that some are diligently working to make sure they are not defined by the actions of a relative few.

Ten years later I am sitting in a hotel in Austin, listening to bagpipes in the street play a mournful melody. I consider how today I will be on a plane flying on the anniversary of our country's darkest hour. It is small, but I feel as if it is my own statement that I have my agency still. I am proud to be an American.