I’ll never forget where I was when the 2011 East Coast Earthquake struck.

I had to go to the doctor’s office because I had the sniffles. I was sitting there, minding my own business, when a news alert came across my phone.

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake has struck the eastern seaboard. I immediately got up and walked out of the waiting room. See, the nurse had called my name and it was time to see the doctor.

Anyway, the true toll of the quake didn’t dawn on me until hours later, following a few stops at Walmart and the auto repair shop for an oil change.

From Maine to Virginia our fellow countrymen were whining petulantly about their days being slightly inconvenienced by shaking that lasted less than 30 seconds.

I was heartbroken. Everywhere there were pieces of pottery and coffee cups to pick up off the floor. I wondered how we would ever recover.

But then it happened.

I saw our brave president stand defiantly on the golf course, taking a short phone call from his chief of staff.

As he stood there like a brick wall his message was clear: We shall rebuild. We shall overcome. We shall return to the very thing we were doing thirty seconds before.

And no medium-sized earthquake that slightly inconveniences our day will ever destroy those ideals we hold dear.

This is America. And we shall overcome. But we’ll never forget.

And I’ll never forget where I was when the 2011 East Coast Earthquake struck: At the doctor’s office. Or maybe it was Walmart. I’ll have to go back over my notes.

Never Forget.