Today is a beautiful sunny day....very much like this same day 10 years ago. Aaron and I were watching the Today show at 8:46am eastern time when the world changed. Aaron, who works in the aviation industry, knew it wasn't an accident. I held onto the belief that that's exactly what it was, and not what was feared. All denial fled at 9:03am.
We watched for about another hour, all the time debating whether to pull our kids out of school. We decided to leave them where they were and headed into town. We live in a relatively small town in Connecticut, so finding the streets virtually empty and quiet was not so odd. I went into our bank and while business was happening, people spoke in whispers, as if saying anything out loud would make it too real.
The next weekend I went with some friends to a renaissance faire in Tuxedo Park, NY. As we crossed the Tappan Zee bridge, the traffic was at a crawl. On clear days, you can see the New York city skyline, and it's an awesome sight. That Saturday, it was all clear except for the smoke still pouring from Ground Zero. Nobody honked, nobody yelled at the others to "get a move on", we all just looked. Again, it was made real.
I watched the tributes on tv today, so wrapped up in the scenes from ten years ago, it almost felt like it was happening in the present. Today is a day to remember....remember the heroes that are the first responders....remember the people lost in the World Trade Center towers....remember the families. While it is a difficult thing to do, don't think about hate for who did this. They don't deserve a second of our time today. September 11 should be a day reserved for love, respect, and pride.
We watched for about another hour, all the time debating whether to pull our kids out of school. We decided to leave them where they were and headed into town. We live in a relatively small town in Connecticut, so finding the streets virtually empty and quiet was not so odd. I went into our bank and while business was happening, people spoke in whispers, as if saying anything out loud would make it too real.
The next weekend I went with some friends to a renaissance faire in Tuxedo Park, NY. As we crossed the Tappan Zee bridge, the traffic was at a crawl. On clear days, you can see the New York city skyline, and it's an awesome sight. That Saturday, it was all clear except for the smoke still pouring from Ground Zero. Nobody honked, nobody yelled at the others to "get a move on", we all just looked. Again, it was made real.
I watched the tributes on tv today, so wrapped up in the scenes from ten years ago, it almost felt like it was happening in the present. Today is a day to remember....remember the heroes that are the first responders....remember the people lost in the World Trade Center towers....remember the families. While it is a difficult thing to do, don't think about hate for who did this. They don't deserve a second of our time today. September 11 should be a day reserved for love, respect, and pride.
