For as long as I live, September 11 will be a point of reference in my life. Every year I will relive where I was that morning. Every year I will play the mental images that are stored on my little brain HD, over and over throughout the day and every year, we will remember that we can be still be surprised.
Keaton is two and because it was a Tuesday, Grandma Sue has him for the day. With Brandi working 70 hours a week and because Steve had got home from a late work run about 5AM, it was a rare moment for us to sleep in. The phone rang shortly after 9AM - and a friend asks me if I know what is going on. I hang up, turn on the TV and see the WTC just after the first plane had hit the tower...
For as long as I live, there will be national recognition on this day. For all who remember, there will always be program long events. Tomorrow, the Today show is rerunning that morning's show and I plan to watch it. By the time Keaton's generation hits their 20's, with no active memories of the day, I wonder how or if it will be recognized. What I really wonder is what his generation's 911 will be? What event will remind them in an instant, where they were and what they were doing?
I think the assassination of President Kennedy was a POR for the generation before mine. While our experiences are and will be different, the intensity will be the same for each of us. A state of complete shock and the thought that life will never be the same, it sets the pace for the rest of the days of our lives and that commemorative date every year, gives us permission to revisit that pace.
So, whatever the day brings for you, I hope you have some time to reflect. Some time to maybe, take a look at your pace. A time to look at your own journey, see where you are and where you are headed. Not a bad way to spend any day...
