COLUMN: Band together in times of trouble and comfort

Not surprisingly, 100 percent of those voting in last week’s poll at www.spencermagnet.com remember where they were when the planes struck the towers of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.
Some of our staff members shared last week where we were on that horrific day – we all remembered.
I’m not old enough to attest, but from what I hear, it’s like the day that John F. Kennedy was shot or maybe even Martin Luther King Jr. The news was so devastating that when you heard it, time stood still for just long enough to etch that memory into your mind forever.
While, individually, we may all be able to recall where we were on that Tuesday, I ask you for a moment to think back to where we were as a nation.
If there is anything positive that can be pulled from that tragic day, I believe it is how strong we came together.
From Washington to Florida to Maine to Texas, we were all Americans. We loved each other, we supported each other and fought for each other.
For what was, in the grand scheme of things, a short time, we became the America we all knew we could be.
In my clouded little mind, I like to walk around each day thinking the world is still full of butterflies and rainbows, but a morning radio show – most likely sports talk radio, because I rarely listen to anything else – snapped me out of that fog.
One commentator said he would forever remember Sept. 11, but also Sept. 12, because on that day we moved forward. We began our collaborative bounce back and showed the world that we could not be defeated.
Life, as terribly difficult as it was, went on, and rather than let tragedy knock us down, we latched arms, pulled each other up and came back stronger than before.
However, that commentator went on to say something to the effect of this: we were so close back then, we were so strong, but look at us now – we’re as divided as ever.
I openly admit I don’t pay as much attention to national politics as I probably should, but I pay enough attention to know our leaders don’t get along and they rarely agree on anything.
A lot of my time is spent in meetings or at events covering government in Spencer County. Anyone with eyes can see that there have been divisions in our own community over the past few months.
While I know our situations aren’t as bad locally as they are in D.C., I wish we could all learn a lesson from our country as it stood on Sept. 12, 2001.
If America could band as closely together as it did after our country was attacked by terrorists, imagine what could happen if we put our heads together today.
If Taylorsville could band as closely together as it did on Sunday during memorial services to honor lives lost on 9/11 and those still risking their lives today, imagine what we could do today or tomorrow.
We banded together in times of trouble. Just think what we could do if that same strength were applied in times of comfort.