9/11/11

Today we remember those who's lives were lost on that fateful day 10 years ago, and we honor those who continue to serve.

Our lives have never been the same since September 11th 2001. Our day started as usual, my son was 2 years old and woke up before 6 as he always did, I had turned the TV on to cartoons and was going about my morning as usual. I was almost 3 months pregnant and still not feeling great in the mornings. JT was working shifts and had the day off, he slept in late and I played with Cam to keep him quiet. After JT got up, Cam went out into the backyard and JT flicked the TV channel to the news. He called me over to show a "fire" in the World Trade Center, just as we started to watch, the second plane hit the second tower and we slowly sat on the couch as it sank in. Minutes later my parents called from Scotland, they are hours ahead and had seen it all unfold. They were terrified that this was a U.S. wide terror attack. As were we.

Our day went on from there, I still took Cam to preschool, we lived 2 miles from an Air Force base and many of the kids in his school had parents in the military. The mood everywhere was somber. We had an appointment with a landscaper that morning, he still came to the house but it seemed really trivial to be picking out plants and trees at that moment. Life went on but we were forever changed.

I think that 9/11 impacted me so drastically because I am a parent. I had a toddler with another on the way. This was their world now, the world they would grow up in was attacked. Their freedom, their safety, was taken. I was deeply sad and scared. It was a selfish feeling, an anger that now I had this to worry about. I grew up in Britain during the time of the IRA bombings, I knew what it was like to check under your car before you got in, I knew why there were no trash cans in bus and rail stations, I had been evacuated several times from trains and public buildings due to bomb threats. I didn't want that for my kids and this seemed way worse.

This past summer we visited New York City for the first time since 9/11. I had been many times in the 1990's but never since. The city is amazing and as we visited the site of the WTC, I expected it to be eerie but it is not. There is an air of respect, resilience and honor.

Thank you to our friends and family members who continue to serve in the military, thank you to those who helped in the aftermath of 9/11 and thank you to those who still honor and defend our freedom.