9/11/08

Where Were You?

I was in the living room, with Alyssa, who was a year and a half old at the time. Six months pregnant with my son, three days away from my wedding day. We were watching the Disney channel, I remember, because Bear in the Big Blue House was on. At that point in time, Bear was almost always on.

J was on vacation that week- after all, we were getting married. It was supposed to be a happy week, a time of celebrating a union as well as a new addition on the way to complete (so we thought at that time!) our little family. Life was good. Life was, for the moment, uncomplicated. And then the phone rang.

It was my mother, and she was crying. I don't remember a lot of our conversation after she told me to turn on the news. I do remember turning just in time to see the second plane hit. I remember sitting on the floor with my daughter in my lap, holding the phone, watching without really comprehending, and being too stunned to cry. I remember hanging up, running to wake J up, and then finally starting to cry. I remember thinking we were all going to die.

I was obsessed with watchign the television. i think a lot of us were. I prayed for people I would never know, wanted to know, knew and didn't. I cried for them, too. I watched in horror as people jumped, panicked, from buildings. As people screamed, cried, threatened, sang, prayed... and came together.

We came together- that's what we should take from 9-11. We pulled ourselves up from the destruction and waved our collective fist in the air. We gave blood, money, clothing, food, support, refuge, love, prayers and comfort to one another- we were united. We were family. We stood together in a way I don't think we've remembered as we look back each year. And maybe we should.

This year, please- remeber where you were, how it felt, what you did. and remember what WE did, together. We stood up, locked hands, and became one. That should have been a gift we held onto, a blessing we took from such an awful tragedy.

I'm sending my thoughts and prayers to everyone of you, all of us, because we were all changed. We were all affected, we all lived through this. together. And we can remember, and be, the same now.

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