A moment to celebrate

I try not to say much about politics or world events here. Once in a while I can't help myself but typically I keep things pretty neutral around here.

I also know we're not supposed to rejoice in another's suffering or celebrate the demise of our enemies.

Tonight, though, I have to take a moment and celebrate. Osama bin Laden took so much away from so many people on a bright and beautiful day almost ten years ago. Moms and dads and kids and grandparents and so many promising futures were lost that day. I spent what should have been a happy day for me worrying about family members who should have been at work in harm's way and feeling remorseful for all that so many had lost.

But this year? This year I think I'm going to throw a party. It'll be my twenty-fifth birthday, after all, and since Osama took the joy out of my birthday for an entire decade, and since he's finally been sent to the Maker for reckoning for the chaos he created and lives he was responsible for on that day and in the war that followed, I feel like I can finally smile again on my birthday.

It felt wrong before, being happy and celebrating on a day when so many other people were mourning a tragic loss, but this year it seems only appropriate. Celebrate the lives of those who died, and celebrate being alive myself.

As you go about your day, don't forget to give thanks for the thousands of people over the last ten years who have fought, and sometimes died, to help protect us from the likes of bin Laden. Don't forget to say a little prayer for the innocents and civilians who died as a result of this war, both in America and overseas. And don't forget to do a little happy dance that finally, maybe, we can bring this war to a close.