Two Moments

Moment One:
It was nearly ten years ago that the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon were bombed--and while my memories of some things are fuzzy, I do remember my roommate mentioning it before I left for class that morning, and just not knowing what to think. I went to a history class, my prof made a comment about it and then added, "Makes you glad the Olympics are in SLC this year, huh?" and then went on with class. My second class of the day was much more somber; by then all three buildings had been hit and my professor was clearly emotional. After that, I headed to the Marriott Center, because every Tuesday, BYU has a devotional. Instead of having our regularly scheduled devotional, we had a prayer meeting that day. I've been in that arena for numerous devotionals, firesides, sporting events, etc., but I've rarely seen more people in there than I did that day. After that I went home and was glued to the TV, shocked that this had happened. And for the past (almost) ten years, we've lived under the shadow of Osama bin Ladin. Granted, I haven't thought about him every day of my life, I haven't spent every day in fear that he will blow me up, but our world changed that day, because of that man, and I don't know that it will ever change back.

Moment Two:
My brother-in-law texted us last night to tell us bin Ladin was dead--and it took a minute for that to sink in. Then we instantly pulled it up on the Internet, eagerly awaiting the president's official announcement. As I was waiting, I realized that I had to make sure my sister and her husband, who was wounded in Afghanistan, knew what was going on--they didn't, so I got to break the news. And maybe telling someone that someone died shouldn't be so exciting, but I couldn't help but imagine that Dustin and all his fellow servicemen and servicewomen might be rejoicing more than anyone. Some of the shadow of the past ten years has lifted. We may still have terror alerts and intense airport security--I doubt those things will go away--but today, I can't help but feel happier. I truly believe that Osama bin Ladin was working not for Allah as he may have claimed but for Satan, and today, there is one less of Satan's minions in this world--and that makes me happy.