On the way to his Dad's early yesterday morning, my youngest son pointed out to me that this year's high school freshman class will be the last class to have (maybe) been alive when the tragedy of 9-11 happened. I hadn't thought about it like that, but it was obviously on his mind.
To me, it seems like it was yesterday. Like many of us, I know exactly where I was when I heard the news. I was upstairs in the bedroom when I heard the first attack...and downstairs heading out the door to work--commuting with my sons. It was the day before my oldest son's third birthday. My youngest son was eight months old.
I remember the feeling as we rode in the car on our 25 minute commute. I listened to the news, and remember thinking "Is this a movie? It can't be happening." As I dropped them off at day care, I remember thinking, I've never been so scared. America was under attack.
Months later, I was a single mom.
A year later, my-then-4 year old chose an "Army Man" birthday party. That is all he wanted. It had consumed his life for the previous year. He was old enough to understand that "Army Men" were his heroes, but too young to understand why.
In mid-2004, I started dating a guy who was to eventually be my future husband. Months after we started dating, he was called up as an Army National Guard member. Loyal to a fault and probably caught up in the romantic "off to war" feeling, I was there. Looking back, it was another life changer. Most of the time, he was in Kuwait on a base, so I had communication with him. Soldiers could elect part of a private network/internet connection. Maybe why...to this day, I hate Yahoo Messenger--or any other messaging system. Although a 10 hour time difference, we had communication, except when he was in Afghanistan or Iraq. Although he had been a friend for many years prior, other friends gently said to me, "You don't have to do this. You know that, right?"
It wasn't who I was, and I was blind to it. And, the boys patriotic spirit shined brightly, as they told friends, neighbors, anybody who would listen the situation. I remember picking up my youngest son at preschool one day, as he was telling his teacher that his "Almost new stepdad was in the Army...and was in Tu-Wait." Yea, while funny on many levels (mostly that I didn't know he had an almost stepdad), it was one of those things that will be permanently embedded in my mind.
Fast forward 15 years later. I sit her with tears running down my face. Scared. One day before my son's 18th birthday. He is at Boot Camp. He has chosen his first part of adulthood in the Navy.
So many gave it all, the impact in this house pales in comparison. My heart breaks for those families. I can promise you, however, that in this house, 9-11 will never be forgotten.
To me, it seems like it was yesterday. Like many of us, I know exactly where I was when I heard the news. I was upstairs in the bedroom when I heard the first attack...and downstairs heading out the door to work--commuting with my sons. It was the day before my oldest son's third birthday. My youngest son was eight months old.
I remember the feeling as we rode in the car on our 25 minute commute. I listened to the news, and remember thinking "Is this a movie? It can't be happening." As I dropped them off at day care, I remember thinking, I've never been so scared. America was under attack.
Months later, I was a single mom.
A year later, my-then-4 year old chose an "Army Man" birthday party. That is all he wanted. It had consumed his life for the previous year. He was old enough to understand that "Army Men" were his heroes, but too young to understand why.
In mid-2004, I started dating a guy who was to eventually be my future husband. Months after we started dating, he was called up as an Army National Guard member. Loyal to a fault and probably caught up in the romantic "off to war" feeling, I was there. Looking back, it was another life changer. Most of the time, he was in Kuwait on a base, so I had communication with him. Soldiers could elect part of a private network/internet connection. Maybe why...to this day, I hate Yahoo Messenger--or any other messaging system. Although a 10 hour time difference, we had communication, except when he was in Afghanistan or Iraq. Although he had been a friend for many years prior, other friends gently said to me, "You don't have to do this. You know that, right?"
It wasn't who I was, and I was blind to it. And, the boys patriotic spirit shined brightly, as they told friends, neighbors, anybody who would listen the situation. I remember picking up my youngest son at preschool one day, as he was telling his teacher that his "Almost new stepdad was in the Army...and was in Tu-Wait." Yea, while funny on many levels (mostly that I didn't know he had an almost stepdad), it was one of those things that will be permanently embedded in my mind.
Fast forward 15 years later. I sit her with tears running down my face. Scared. One day before my son's 18th birthday. He is at Boot Camp. He has chosen his first part of adulthood in the Navy.
So many gave it all, the impact in this house pales in comparison. My heart breaks for those families. I can promise you, however, that in this house, 9-11 will never be forgotten.