9/11/01

I've peeked at my blog all this past week thinking "I need to write." I love to write, so it shouldn't be a big issue for me to come up with something to write about! But somehow every night I've been too tired or too brain-dead to think of anything worth writing about. And I know that, with today being 9/11, half the blogging world will post something about 9/11. I don't think it's something I'm obligated to do, but I think it's the right thing to do. To remember, to pause & recognize again the brevity of life.

Tonight we went to a church swim party at a tennis/pool club in town. It didn't even cross my mind for those 2 hours that today is 9/11. But when we came home & turned on the TV and began watching one documentary after another on the History channel, it occurred to me that there are those who will NEVER forget that today is 9/11. And for a moment, I felt guilty that I'd gone to a party & enjoyed sitting and chatting with friends while dangling my feet in the pool and snapping pictures of my kids swimming.

Watching those documentaries, like we do every year on 9/11, I was reminded of the horror of that day. I remember getting up & taking Savannah to school. She was in Kindergarten. I drove to a girlfriend's house that morning & parked my car in her driveway (she was at work) to take the babies on a walk through her neighborhood (which ironically is now the neighborhood where we live!). I put the cell phone in the stroller & pushed my little ones around the neighborhood & then got back in the car to head home. On the way there, I had heard a report on the radio about a plane hitting one of the world trade center towers. I couldn't help but think what an error that pilot had made getting so low to the ground & getting so off course as to hit a sky scraper in the middle of a big city. But as I was driving home, my cell phone started ringing. This was before the time that everyone in the world had a cell phone. There were only a handful of people who knew my cell number, so if anyone was calling, it was important. I pulled over & got the phone out (it was still in the pocket of the stroller in the back of the SUV I was driving back then). It was Larry asking me if I'd heard about the plane hitting the tower. I said yes, but then realized that he was talking about a 2nd plane in the 2nd tower! I drove home & turned on the news & watched it all day long. The kids were 7 months, 17 months and 5. I couldn't ignore the little two all day to keep up with the news, but I was reading online & switching the channel all day long to see if there was more news about what happened. Truly, it was a day when the world as we know it changed and I will never forget that day.

Someone on Facebook today said that her dad told her this would be her "JFK day". My grandfather would've said it would be my Pearl Harbor day. I suppose every generation of Americans has a particular tragedy that affected them & changed them. 9/11 is certainly one of those for me!

And so, today, I post this not because I have to but because I want to. I want to remember that day, all the horror & tragedy & confusion & fear. I want to remember because so many people gave their lives that day. I want to remember because we all need to fight harder to never take a minute for granted. You never know when we may have another JFK day...or Pearl Harbor day...or another 9/11.

"LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered--how fleeting my life is. Psalm 39:4 NLT

Please take a moment to watch this video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7407032531351367066#