9/11

I was working from home on the morning of 9/11 and sitting at the computer in our bedroom. Annie, who was attending Sacramento State at the time, was getting ready for classes. She flipped on the TV in our room and after a few moments, said, "Justin, look." I turned around to see smoke billowing from the New York City skyline.

We spent the morning in shock, watching ABC and Peter Jennings share the horrific events as they unfolded. I'll never forget the sadness, the fear, and the outrage of that day. We feared with each passing moment that reports of another attack, perhaps closer to home, would happen. We knew the world would never be the same.

It's five years later, and I feel some of those same feelings as I remember that day. But pictures like this make me proud to be an American. This is an artist's rendering of some potential designs for replacing the WTC buildings.

There had been some discussion of filling the gaping hole of ground zero with a solemn memorial, but that's not how American's do it. We come back bigger and stronger. I love that the WTC is going to be replaced with even larger, grander buildings. That is the American spirit.