Madelyn got up early one morning while I was still in bed to go watch the sunrise.
This week, I've been thinking about all the people who never got to come home on 9/11/01. I remember where I was when I found out about the towers collapsing--I was in my morning chemistry class at Dixie, and someone said the World Trade Center had been blown up. We had all gotten up and gone straight to school and weren't aware of what was really happening. Later in nutrition class, I remember sitting there and everyone was quiet, and the teacher said being in class seemed trivial and unimportant.
But following that day, there was SO MUCH media coverage that I just tuned it out. I never watch the news anyway and I didn't see the point in starting then, because in my opinion the real importance of the event was overshadowed by the obsessive, relentless 24/7 media blitz. And I had other things to think about--I was planning my wedding and my way of dealing with sad stuff is to not dwell on it and get distracted by something else.
So I was a little surprised at myself this week when I saw a picture of one of the planes about to hit the tower and was suddenly really sad. I just couldn't believe that four planes full of innocent people had crashed, and that so many people went to work in New York and Washington that morning that never made it back home. There's been some touching stories I've read about ordinary people who were affected on the postbox at msn.com.
I teared up when Madelyn came home from school and said, "Tomorrow is a very special day. We're remembering what happened when some people's airplane crashed into a building." I had never talked to her about it before, but it sounds like her school did a good job in the assembly they had, complete with police and firemen in uniform. She is still so innocent and it made me sad that she had to learn about it.
Her world is definitely different from the one I grew up in--for Madelyn the US has always been at war, and there's higher risk everywhere. Yesterday, Mark was at the airport in Denver waiting for his flight home from a medical conference when he left his carry-on bag and laptop to go 100 yards to grab a bite to eat. The airline employees called the police on him, and he was questioned and told that if he left his stuff again, they'd take away his boarding pass. "You just can't leave your stuff in a public place, sir. It's been that way for a while."
Anyway, I'm just grateful to live in relative peace and harmony and am so grateful every day for the blessings I have. I never usually say it, but I thought today I should.
2 comments:
Aaaaamen. That's neat that they had an assembly and everything! I don't think our schools here even talked about it at all. That's crazy about the airport thing! I haven't flown anywhere in a LOOOONG time...it just seems like such a hassle now-days.
I find this year I have shut my feelings off more about 9/11. I think I have relived it so much through the media in the past I haven't let myself think about it too much this year. Mostly because I don't think my pregnant self can handle dwelling on sad things or I go a bit hormonally crazy. I found that I didn't talk to my kids about it at all. They seem so young and innocent to have to hear about such sad scary things. I didn't want them being scared. It is sad how quickly they have to hear about such things. Even sadder for the kids who lost loved ones on that day.
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