Remembering

I hate to say it, but time gets away from me so quickly that I didn't realize what day it was until Natalie laughed and said "Look - that flag is down." I was surprised that she would even notice a difference in how the flag (at Liam's school) was hung. For a second, I had that jarring feeling of uh-oh, did something happen? Then I realized what day it was, and what it was that happened.

In some ways it is hard to believe it has been 7 years. In other ways it feels like forever (like when I tried to explain in simple terms to Liam why there were flags lining the drive to soccer practice, and he could not believe that this thing happened before he was even born).

I do remember it well. I remember hearing the news from cubicles all around me at work, as spouses called. I remember calling my Dad and having him describe the news. I remember standing around the one tv near our lobby, along with a large crowd, and watching the instant that the second tower fell, and realizing how serious this was. I remember running upstairs to email Jim, who was in London at the time. I remember barely sleeping that night, dreaming that attack planes were flying overhead. I remember the next few days of trying to figure out if Jim was coming home for our wedding that Saturday, and all the calls that had to be made when we decided he was not going to make it. I remember the strange month after that, until we did actually get married in a much smaller, quieter, more somber ceremony. Still, when I tell people our wedding story, they always comment on how hard that must have been to have to cancel and reschedule everything at the last minute. The truth of the matter is that it was a big-time reality check. All the worries about the centerpieces and the cake and the favors and the tablecloths and flowers...none of it mattered a bit. All I wanted was for Jim to come home safe and for us to be together. I was lucky enough to get that. I will always remember that, and I will always remember that day.