This day sneaks up on me every year. Yesterday I sat in my office updating my calendar and there it was.
It's no holiday. There's nothing to prepare for, nothing special to do except remember the events of that day. I try not to dwell on it, and my thoughts drift to the people I know whose birthdays are today.
But I still can't bring myself to write about any other topic here than the one that is on my mind and on the mind of millions of others.
So for today I will remember, like I have every year for the past thirteen.
Last year I wrote about what I was doing on September 11, 2001.
I turned on the TV last night because I couldn't sleep and the National Geographic channel had 9/11 things on. And I kind of went, "Oh, wait - that's tomorrow???" Like you said, it just kind of comes out of nowhere. I knew the date - I have appointments today. But it always kind of surprises me and then I get stuck in that loop of remembering how horrible that day was.
Yeah - I know exactly what you mean. I was at the table with my kids and all of a sudden it hit me. I had to check the calendar several times before I believed it. The emotions over that day have softened, but the day seems somber, still.
It's weird. I already had a post planned, and I only figured out what day it was when I put it on FB. I had planned not to write anything either.
I hate the feeling that I've forgotten, that somehow anything else could be more important at this time each year. But the message of that day is that we will heal and life will move on.
I found out later on 9/11 that it was another friend's birthday. She seemed almost sheepish about it, said that she would celebrate later. I realized then that it is closer to our hearts than we think.
I will never forget that day. Who can forget. So many of us, staring, scared, wondering, how many more? The edge of our nerves, and then the numbers. The wail as the numbers of those that vanished, on a typical day, like that.
The images I saw that day: I will never forget. All those posters of the lost - we all hoped that they would be found.