Today

Ten years already. I have tried to stay away from cliche posts and wallowing in the significance of today, but, I find I just can't. One reason I can't is because of a status that was pointed out to me earlier today. I keep going back to that and wondering how a person can be so unmoved by something so tragic.

This person intimated that 9/11/2001 didn't change him. That it didn't change anyone and we are all being fake by being affected by the event and the anniversary. I must say, I find that pretty callous. I agree he is entitled to his opinion. We all are. However, my opinion is, he is wrong.

Immediately after the event, I was affected. I had plans to fly from Atlanta to Denver two days following. I didn't know if I would get to go or not. I had serious doubts about bringing another child into the world. My children (three of them at the time) were two, two and seven months. I didn't have a clue what kind of world they would grow up in. I was nervous and scared about what they would have to face growing up. I remember thinking how relieved I was that Daddy had retired from the military and worrying about the ones I knew still doing their duty to country. I worried that Daddy would be called back up, anyway. He wasn't even 50 at the time!

I lost a job due to 9/11. How? Company stock dropped because people were more interested in their safety than the products we sold. Not to mention that we had a business in one of the towers. I was a WELL-paid employee and more recently employed than others. Last in, first out. Unfair? Maybe, but, I ended up going back to school for my Master's in Teaching. However, that is another story...

Today, ten years later, I am still affected. One of the first things I thought of this morning was a dear friend of mine. She missed working in the towers that day. Had she not, I might not have met my dear friend. You see, I didn't know her then. I am so thankful I know her, now. Tried to fly anywhere lately? I have. Before 9/11, nobody would have thought to remove their SHOES to be SCANNED before getting on a plane. All liquids can only be a certain size, you can only carry so many bottles, don't even think about trying to take a razor on the plane.

Do I live every day like it is 9/11? No. Just like I don't live every day as if it is my birthday or anniversary. I don't live every day as if it is the day we lost my Daddy, but, that doesn't stop me from thinking about him often. So, while our day-to-day activities may not have changed drastically, we are all still affected in some way. As it is with my Daddy, there are things that happen that make me think about that tragic day on other days of the year. I will NEVER get some of those images out of my head. And, to be honest, I don't want to.

We, as a nation, had become complacent and cocky. We had an attitude of invincibility that reminds me so much of the teenagers I teach. When you think about world civilizations, we ARE the teenagers. Just as it is always tragic to lose a young person too early in life, it was tragic to have our eyes opened to our own vulnerability. If nothing else, THAT should have affected and changed everyone who saw the events of that day.