Love does not consist of gazing at each other,
but in looking together in the same direction.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Updates of All Kinds
2 weeks ago
Monday, September 29, 2008
Happy 17th Anniversary, Honey
It was actually yesterday, but here is my public acknowledgment (totally stolen from another blog)
Friday, September 12, 2008
Remembrance
Yesterday was my birthday. And it was seven years ago as well. I've read a few blog posts yesterday and today about 9/11. So many people experienced the day in similar fashion, but everyone has their own story. Here's mine:
I was at home, and due in about three weeks with my fourth child. I was making beds and the phone rang. I saw by the caller id that it was my mom calling (about 8:15am or so). I answered expecting a "Happy Birthday" and instead heard, "What's going on?" Then she told me a plane had hit the WTC. I didn't think too much of it at first - I assumed a small aircraft had lost control and hit one of the towers. I got off the phone and went and turned the tv on. And then I knew. There is really no way to express how we were all feeling that day: it was horrible, tragic, unbelievable. I remember my sister calling to tell me she was being evacuated from her building and coming to my house so she wouldn't be alone. I called my husband and was on the phone with him when the second tower fell. I wept and begged him to come home. It seemed like it took them both forever to arrive. (The train stations were packed and trains were leaving with no schedule - just leaving when they were full and making all stops.) We watched CNN for the remainder of the day, into early evening. And then, my husband remembered it was my birthday. We went out for dinner, but it seemed almost selfish to be doing something other than praying and watching. I will never forget the eerie silence of the skies those days following 9/11. It felt like the whole world had changed - and it did.
Seven years later, I still have people tell me that it's too bad my birthday falls on 9/11. One of my brothers in particular is obsessed with this fact, and never fails to initiate an in-depth discussion of the entire event (and of course, the conspiracy theory) when he calls to wish me a happy birthday. He says he remembers me saying on 9/11/01 that I wished it wasn't my birthday, but I find that hard to believe. I have never felt that way. My birthday was September 11 long before it turned into the day of the worst terrorist attack ever. I feel a complete disconnect between the two events.
We will always remember 9/11 and what we were doing when we heard. I will aways get a lump in my throat and the sting of tears in my eyes when I remember the horror. And I will always pray for those we lost and those who remain.
I was at home, and due in about three weeks with my fourth child. I was making beds and the phone rang. I saw by the caller id that it was my mom calling (about 8:15am or so). I answered expecting a "Happy Birthday" and instead heard, "What's going on?" Then she told me a plane had hit the WTC. I didn't think too much of it at first - I assumed a small aircraft had lost control and hit one of the towers. I got off the phone and went and turned the tv on. And then I knew. There is really no way to express how we were all feeling that day: it was horrible, tragic, unbelievable. I remember my sister calling to tell me she was being evacuated from her building and coming to my house so she wouldn't be alone. I called my husband and was on the phone with him when the second tower fell. I wept and begged him to come home. It seemed like it took them both forever to arrive. (The train stations were packed and trains were leaving with no schedule - just leaving when they were full and making all stops.) We watched CNN for the remainder of the day, into early evening. And then, my husband remembered it was my birthday. We went out for dinner, but it seemed almost selfish to be doing something other than praying and watching. I will never forget the eerie silence of the skies those days following 9/11. It felt like the whole world had changed - and it did.
Seven years later, I still have people tell me that it's too bad my birthday falls on 9/11. One of my brothers in particular is obsessed with this fact, and never fails to initiate an in-depth discussion of the entire event (and of course, the conspiracy theory) when he calls to wish me a happy birthday. He says he remembers me saying on 9/11/01 that I wished it wasn't my birthday, but I find that hard to believe. I have never felt that way. My birthday was September 11 long before it turned into the day of the worst terrorist attack ever. I feel a complete disconnect between the two events.
We will always remember 9/11 and what we were doing when we heard. I will aways get a lump in my throat and the sting of tears in my eyes when I remember the horror. And I will always pray for those we lost and those who remain.
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