Sometimes I wonder how it can be that everything goes on like normal on September 11, but then I realize that is the point. The point is to honor the lives of normal people, going about their business when an unspeakable tragedy struck them and their loved ones by doing the simple things, the normal things. Kissing your children good by. Holding them close.
In that spirit, I'm up early making breakfast. It's nothing special — fruit shakes and cereal. But it is done with love and intention. I'm going to work hard at work today. I'm going to knit. I'm going to laugh with my husband. I'm going to honor them.
I remember leaving work and meeting my husband to walk to the children's school at 3:00 so we could pick them up and talk with them, even though we knew the school had already begun to tell them. It's the only time I can remember both of us walking over together to pick them up. And I spent countless moments trying to give our daughter, who had just had her third birthday, some sense of why everyone was so upset, why there were phone calls to make sure cousins in New York were all safe.
Ellie and I used to watch a video over and over, we did it for a long time afterwards, and she would talk about "her people" and "her buildings." She has a clear vision of that day, unlike her brother, who wasn't born until the following year.
I haven't watched that video in a long time, but I hunted it down to share with you all today. It's worth taking some time to do simple things to honor them.
