Never Forget

I have never done a post about September 11th, 2001 since I started this blog back in 2007, mostly because that day held a different meaning for me at that time. 

Sept. 11, 2001 - I was getting ready for work that morning with the TV on for background noise.  I was in the midst of fixing my lunch when I heard the announcement about the first plane hitting the first tower of the World Trade Center.  I stood transfixed on the screen and watched as the second plane hit the second tower.   As I was working at a mental health agency, the first thing that crossed my mind was how our clients would react to this situation.  I quickly got my things together and rushed to work, where most of my co-workers already had TVs and radios tuned in to the news.  Since we were located far from all the activity, we didn't get as many calls or panic attacks as we were expecting; I'm sure they were all watching like we were, trying to figure it all out.  I went home at the end of the day to my apartment and watched all the coverage with my kitten, not remotely interested in stopping by the bar I usually went to every night.

Sept. 11, 2002 and 2003 - On each anniversary, it was me and my cat again, watching footage of that day and reliving the tragedy and loss.  In 2003, one of my former co-workers was serving in the Army over in Afghanistan so it was a little more personal that year.

Sept. 11, 2004 - I had just started dating my now-husband a few weeks before and we traded stories of what we had been doing that day.  He had been in the military at the time and, after the attacks, awaited orders to be sent overseas; unfortunately (fortunately?), he blew out his knee shortly afterwards while still in boot camp, which ended his military career.

Sept. 11, 2005 - We were engaged on this anniversary and living in Florida with his parents.  I was in between jobs while he was working at a local nursing home.  I had woken up early that day, feeling a little "off".  While sitting in the quiet as he slept, I thought about a little secret plan we had hatched and my suspicions were soon confirmed.  I waited until he woke up to tell him...on the other hand, he quickly ran out of our room to tell his parents and his grandparents, who had come over for lunch that day, that we were expecting our first child.  I felt a little weird celebrating on such a solemn day but everyone's excitement pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind.

Sept. 11, 2006 - We were married for 6 months by this point.  We didn't get to spend much time reflecting on the 5 year anniversary, as we were preparing to move from Florida back to my home state of Texas with our 4 month old son.

Sept. 11, 2007 - We were in Texas and had moved into a bigger place, as we now had our 16 mo. old son and a 1 month old girl.  I was back at work part-time from my maternity leave while he had left his job about 6 months before to stay at home to raise the kids.

Sept. 11, 2008 - We had moved again into a bigger place because we had just added another girl to our family the month before.  While remembering the events 7 years before, a new era appeared to be around the corner with Obama running for president.

Sept. 11, 2009 and 2010 - We no longer had cable by this point so we were not as inundated with all the 9/11 coverage.  Instead, we were focused on keeping the little ones entertained and all the everyday minutia.

So, that brings us to this year, the 10 year anniversary.  It's amazing how so much as changed in that time, both in my personal life and the world at large.  Our son is starting on his first soccer team, our oldest girl is losing her first tooth, and the youngest one is being potty trained.  Our sense of security as a nation has been rocked to the core and we're still recovering from it.  I've been avoiding most of the coverage this year because, for me, it is time to move forward.  We do plan on educating our children about 9/11 once they get old enough to explain what happened without giving them nightmares in the process.  We will definitely never forget that day but it is time to move forward to a hopefully brighter future.