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Proud to Be An American

© Linda Bily

September 11, 2001 - a new day, a horrific day, in American history. I had been attending a breast cancer grant review in Albany, New York and was scheduled to return to Long Island at 5PM. My group finished Monday night and I caught a stand-by flight at 8AM. I arrived on Long Island at 8:45 AM. As I was paying the attendant in the long-term parking lot, she told me to turn on the radio. The World Trade Center had just been hit by a plane. My initial reaction was that this was a small, private, sight-seeing plane that made an error. I turned on the radio and started the short drive home. On the way, I heard that a second plane had hit. I knew then, that this was not an accident.

As soon as I arrived home, I phoned my daughter in Baltimore, my parents in South Carolina, my husband at work and used the cell phone to contact my son on Long Island and my son in high school. My youngest ( a high school senior) told me that the school was in a "lock-down" and I would have to pick him up at school.

And so began the most agonizing week that we as Americans have lived through. I'm old enough to remember friends who were killed in the VietNam war. But this is different. This is us, Americans, being attacked on our own shores. This is turning everyone militant. It's making my boys stick close to home. It's tears welling in your eyes at the sight of the American flag or a rendition of "God Bless America".

Like most people, I am in a state of shock and anger. I wonder what this will lead to. Is this going to be World War III? Can our economy survive? Can we survive?? And then, deep in the recesses of my mind, I remember that I am a breast cancer survivor and advocate and I get even more irate. Yes, this was a horrible tragedy. Over 5000 lives have been lost or are unaccounted for. Breast cancer claims over 44,000 women annually. Those of us who have fought the disease and won, fight harder to help those who are still being diagnosed. Billions will be spent to rebuild the areas destroyed and help the families of those lost. This is as it should be. But the little voice in the back of my head keeps urging me on - to help get more funding for breast cancer, to raise awareness, to get women diagnosed early, to find the cause and work towards a cure to eradicate this deadly killer.

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