The years since September 11th have been some of the best and worst years of my life.  As I read through the social media posts and messages, it’s been said every different way that freedom isn’t free.  I don’t need September 11th to remind me of that, just as those who lost loved ones that day don’t need the reminders that I have.  To put it another way, many Americans have been touched in different ways by the world after September 11th.  It’s still a good day to reflect but, like Memorial Day, it shouldn’t be the only time you spend a moment thinking of all the sacrifices that have been made to keep us free.

So I give my two-cent lecture to setup this story.  As I’m driving into work thinking about 9-11 and my buddy Tim who we lost in Iraq, I started to get a bit depressed.  Ryan, sitting in his car seat in the back, was playing with my iPhone when he loaded up a Youtube video of Katy Perry’s latest song, “Roar.”  He’s seen this before and, going back to the theme of timing, I’ve been sort of on the fence as to whether he should be allowed to watch the video.  If you haven’t seen it, well, Perry is bouncing around a jungle dressed basically in a leaf.  I’ll leave it at that.  So, Ryan is watching the video and I’m contemplating heavy thoughts of personal sacrifice and loved ones and how much I value the sacrifice others have made so I can enjoy my children when I find myself in this conversation: