Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

It kind of feels like we are all living in Munchkinland in the Wizard of Oz this morning. It feels so odd to celebrate a death.

That being said, in my opinion, Osama Bin Laden was a very evil man and the world is a better place today for his loss. I stayed up into the wee hours of the night watching the crowds rejoice on television, as people gathered at Ground Zero, in Times Square, outside the White House, and even on Boston Common. While nothing can begin to remedy the pain that the United States and it's citizens suffered almost a decade ago, this death brings some measure of closure and justice. And hopefully peace.

It was interesting to me to watch some of the crowds, which seemed to be filled with mostly college students, except for at Ground Zero. The college students of today were pre-pubescent when 9/11 occurred. They have few memories of life without war and before the daily knowledge of the threat of terrorism. I was in my senior year of college in September of 2001. Like many Americans, I remember what I was doing on the morning of September 11th. I was eating cereal before class and watching tv and saw the second plane hit. I still had to go to school. It was a Psychological Research Methods class. We pleaded with the teacher to let us go home, as everyone just wanted to be with their families at that time. Finally, the state school closed for the day and we all returned to our televisions to watch the horror unfurl.

As I was driving in to work today, the song "I'm proud to be an American" played on the radio. I drove carefully as my eyes brimmed with tears. I sang along, thinking of my elementary school teacher, Mrs. Conway, who taught me that song so long ago. I remember the enthusiasm we all had back then; at the part where he sings "and I'd proudly stand up next to Her and defend Her still today", all of us would kind of half jump to mimic standing up. I felt that same enthusiasm this morning. God Bless America and I wish liberty and justice for all.