8 Years Ago Today

I happened to turn on the television just before leaving the house to drive my oldest son to his second week of Kindergarten.  I occasionally watched morning programs (like Regis with whatever co-host he had at the moment LOL), but after a few seconds my tired morning brain registered that something wasn’t right.

September 11th, 2001 – 8 years ago today.  I had a 5 year old, a 3 year old and an (almost) 2 year old – half the children I have now.  As a very young mother, what I saw on that television was more than horrifying.  I began to wonder if I was really awake, it had to be a dream, right?

The horror of listening to the news as I drove my then Kindergartener (now 8th grader) to school caused me to pause and cry and pray.  A lot of praying.   I even called my husband on my way back to the house to ask if he had heard, but for us, on the other side of the country from the events happening, we didn’t know the whole story.  Like the rest of the world, we watched through the rest of the day as things got worse and worse.

The quiet of no airplanes overhead was almost as bad as what we were seeing on the television, simply confirming the horror we watched on the television – in real time!  Sadness for families that I did not and never will know.

Why am I writing about it this year?  The poignancy of that day hit me again today as I realized that now, 8 years later, my then Kindergartener is now an 8th grader and would totally understand the horror of that day though he was greatly sheltered from it at the time thanks to his age.  This year I again have a kindergartener, though it may very well hit me even harder in two years on the 10th anniversary of that horrible day when my last two babies go off to Kindergarten as well.

Also this month, I happen to be headed to New York for the first time in my life.  I can’t say that it is not without fear that I travel there.  I look forward to seeing New York, but flying any distance is a bit nervewracking for me so you can imagine my level of anxiety…it’s just a little high right now.

So today, my oldest son will learn a little bit about that day and I will share the story of our generation’s version of the “assassination of John Kennedy”.  I can only hope that his generation doesn’t experience any such event for themselves.