It's taken a while for me to understand how I feel about this tragedy. When I first heard the news on Tuesday (about 10:00 am PST - I'm not a news watcher and heard via a phone call from my father), I think I experienced a type of shock and denial. After all, I live on the West Coast and felt so disconnected from what was happening. I couldn't relate to the magnitude of it all and to the fact that it was a "national" crisis, not just a New York one. Slowly it's been settling in. It wasn't until this morning (Friday) that it hit me when a newscaster said, "It may have been an attack on New York in the physical sense, but it was an attack on America in the emotional sense." Yes, there are people out there that HATE our country and what we stand, our values, culture, etc. They hate it enough to want to cause harm to the people that live here. New York just happened to be a target - they could have chosen anywhere.

I've seen people on the streets and in their cars displaying the American flag and showing such patriotism in this time of crisis. Yes, I would like to see retaliation. I do not believe people should be allowed to get away with such a horrible act of violence. I would like to see us strike back and show, not only the people responsible, but the world as well, that this kind of terrorsim will not be tolerated in any form or fashion.

I used to think of "Americans" as only those people that were actually citizens of this country. However, while that is a technical definition, it may not be a completely realistic one. In this time, we are bonding together - all of us - whether technically "Americans" or not - if you love this country, then we all feel violated and vulnerable. It doesn't matter whether or not you are a "legal" citizen, an immigrant, or born here. If this is your home, then this tragedy affects you.