Weekend of Reflections

This weekend was most certainly a time of reflection for me. Our firstborn, Tara, turned 31 on Wednesday, and we celebrated as a family on Friday night with a delicious seafood linguine dinner prepared by her husband, Jamie. We enjoyed an evening filled with great food and many recollections about times long ago, when she was growing into the beautiful young woman she is today. We hardly know where the time has gone!

Saturday morning we headed to Bay Leaf to watch our grandson Nathan at his first soccer practice with Kicking for the Cross. Talk about deja vous! Our son Nick, now 25, went to Kicking for the Cross 17 years ago at Bay Leaf when he was 8!!! To see little Nathan, at 4 years old, wearing his shin guards and holding his soccer ball, made our hearts melt! We hardly know where the time has gone!

Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of 9/11. It is unquestionably one of those events in my life that I won't ever forget. Tara was already married and on her way to class at Meredith, Leah was at ASU and Nick was a sophomore in high school at Wakefield in Raleigh. I was making a birthday phone call to Allison, Tara's sister-in-law and one of the friends in my bible study group. She asked if I had my TV on and I said "No, why?" She informed me that a plane had flown into one of the World Trade Towers. Then came the other planes...hitting the second tower, the Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvania. I have been on top of the World Trade Towers. My father had worked in the Pentagon. It didn't seem real.

EZ was an executive of a small start up at the time, and had traveled to Taiwan...literally on the other side of the world! I felt so alone trying to deal with such a scary terrorist scenario, complicated by the fact that somehow, my husband had to fly home in the coming days. The rest is history and we hardly know where the time has gone since that horrible day in 2001.

I have been to Ground Zero. I am still amazed at the bravery shown that day, the way those two huge buildings imploded, the cloud of debris that resulted, and the gigantic void that was left behind. I am touched by the stories and the pictures.

On November 11, 2001, President George W. Bush said “Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children. “

Where were you on that awful day? I hope I never forget...