In Remembrance . .

This morning, we all got ready, ate breakfast and started loading into the car. Mairyn noticed that there were flags in every other yard along the street. She asked me if it was another Labor Day. (Because that's the last time a bunch of random flags were in the lawn) No, I said, it's September 11th. That did not ring any bells with them. I KNOW I've told them about it, but, I guess it takes a couple of times to sink in.

I tried to be tactful; I really wasn't prepared for an extremely in-depth analysis with them. And truthfully, they wouldn't be either! So, I told them about how terrorists --

"What's a terrorist, Mommy?"

"They are people that want to scare and hurt other people on purpose."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

So, the terrorists took the planes by force and crashed 4 into different buildings. The Pentagon --

"A Pentagon is a five-sided shape!!" Eliza offered.

"Yes, yes it is."

So they crashed one of the planes into the Pentagon, two in the World Trade Center Twin tower in New York City --

"Oh, the ones that Philippe walked between?" (there is a book we got about a man that walked a tightrope between the twin towers. caldecott winner, great read.")

"Yes, that one."

And on we continued, me talking, them injecting random thoughts & comments. I think it made some kind of impression. But it's something that will always be in their history. It wasn't always in mine. In the end, Mairyn tried summing it up,

"So the tourists crashed planes -- "

"Terrorists, Mairyn."

"Yeah. Right. Terrorist crashed planes . . etc."

I didn't want to assign a nationality to who these particular terrorists were. We have lived in the Middle East for most of my children's cognitive memory. They see Arabs differently than most people do. And that is one thing that makes me so grateful for the oppotunity we've been afforded in living overseas. Sure, it sucks that I don't have many "American conveniences" at my fingertips. (I still love you, Target. You know that.) But when I reflect upon the impact and impressions that are being made upon my children, it makes it all worth it. That I can teach them to see more than just a label; "a terrorist" or "Arab" and not have the connotations that some people conjure upon hearing those words. They hear "Arab" and go, "Oh yeah, Tamer was my best buddy, he was the best at hide and go seek." or "Muslim" and say, "Muslims pray 5 times a day. The art teacher, Ms. Gharib had a cool colored prayer rug."

September 11th will always stir strong feelings in me. Feelings of patriotism, sadness, mourning and the longing for something lost. It's hard to put a finger on the exact emotions, but I do know that I will never forget exactly where I was & what I was doing when that day unfolded. I don't hold any grudges, just a desire to make the future a better one for my children.

4th of July, 2009

Last September

I wrote this last September 11th, but never posted in on my blog. Don't know why.

I want to say that I am proud to be an American! The first 4th of July, after moving to Egypt, we were in Rexburg. We went to the 4th of July parade and it began with the JROTC cadets carrying the colors down Main Street. I must say, I got choked up ( and not just b/c I am a hormonal mommy!) seeing my country's flag being proudly displayed for all to see. Spence and I were talking about the significance of today, remembering what we were doing when we found out about the attacks. We were asleep in our little Wymount apartment and the phone rang. Our downstairs neighbors said to turn on the T.V. b/c a plane had crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. We turned it on and also found that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center Towers. Then the first tower came crashing down. I remember the speculation of the newscasters that a plane had gone astray and that this was all an accident. Then Flight 93 in Pennsylvania was reported and they began circulating that this was no accident, but an attack. My grandparents were flying that day. They were flying from Oregon to Florida. Their plane was grounded in SLC of all places! They were stranded in SLC for a few days, there weren't any rental cars available. The airline arranged for a huge Greyhound bus to take people back to their place of origin. They had a 20 hour bus ride back to southern Oregon.

I remember it was on a Tuesday. On Thursday, President Bush addressed the country and encouraged us to show our American colors. I went to the craft store and bought 3 little spools of ribbon in red, white and blue. They had miniature grapevine wreaths on sale for .45 cents and I wrapped the ribbons around and through it and hung that little symbol from my rear view mirror. It stayed there until we sold our car in D.C. It was also the first meeting of a Mommy Baby swimming class that I had with Eliza. It was a little surreal to be floating around in the pool, listening to this instructor, trying to block out what had happened that day. I didn't do a very good job!

These attacks came 2 weeks into a new semester. Spencer had most of his classes canceled as well as many other classes around campus. They flew the flag at half-mast for a while.

I can't believe how fast the last 7 years have flown. Back when we only had little Eliza. And I got pregnant with Mairyn the next month. I was so thrilled to have a baby with a 4th of July due date. She was born just one week after our first post 9/11 4th of July. It was quite a celebration in Provo. If you couldn't tell, I was listening to Proud to be an American, By Lee Greenwood before I started this post. It's a great feel good song. Love you all