Eight Years Ago Today

I remember it vividly. We were living in Oakland and I was in my first trimester of pregnancy with Walker. It was a warm Indian summer day and we were getting ready for work at the old ILM facility in San Rafael. Always had Katie and Matt on as we'd get ready in the morning. They had just gotten some news about a plane or something in one of the Twin Towers. I think we all thought it was something like a news copter or small plane that had crashed. It was all very confusing and vague. Then all of a sudden a second plane crashed and we all know the rest of the events.



We drove into work numb except with the very strange feeling that our innocence as a nation was lost. Talk radio in the background. Air Force jets overhead as we crossed the Richmond Bridge. We talked about the fear that something else was next. The Golden Gate Bridge a possible target. There was chaos all around us. The government was in chaos. The media was in chaos. But at the same time there was this closeness to our fellow Americans. We were all in the midst of the chaos together.


The Star Wars 1 trailer was filled with numb zombies glued to talk radio and CNN updates. We didn't have internet access at work then. We would share updates as we got them from friends and family on the outside. Names of victims - friends of friends. We couldn't get enough info. I think it was the way we tried to gain control about what happened by finding out the littlest details about the 3 crash sites. Someone would get a rumor and shout it out to the whole office. The whole company was getting together for a moment of silence. We all stood in the courtyard and the president said a few words and we all held hands and stood silently for 5 minutes. Most of us cried. I remember thinking "What kind of world is my son going to enter?" The strange thing is I didn't medically find out months later that he was a boy. But in my heart I knew on
Sept. 11th.

Today I revisited the heroes and heroics of that day. I never want to forget or become indifferent nor do i want my children to be. I like the idea of it becoming a day of national service, but i also do not want it glossed over what happened. The horrors of terrorism. The destruction coming from hatred. Sept. 11th should stand not just for pride in out country but resiliency and strength. And gratitude for all the many heroes of that day.