September 11, 2001 affected everyone, no matter who you are or where you lived. My husband and I got married 4 days later just outside of DC. Vince worked in the city then, and had a tough time getting out. It took him 6 hours to get home that day, but he lived. My wedding bouquet had to be changed a bit, our Best Man and a few other family members weren't able to fly in, but other than that, our life went on. We have gone on to have a wonderful life-ups and downs, tough times and successes. We already had one child when we got married, but since then, we have given birth to four more beautiful children. Our life is an awesome one, for sure.
Today, we decided we would sit our older 3 kids down and talk about what happened on 9/11/2001. We wanted them to know the history, to ask any questions, and try to point out any positives that we could. We discussed the Pentagon and the Twin Towers and showed them some of the video, and then we discussed Flight 93. We talked about how that plane was supposed to hit the US Capitol, but the passengers on board decided to fight the terrorists and the plane ended up crashing into an empty field. We talked about how the passengers aboard Flight 93 decided to give up their own lives to save other lives. Our seven year old asked, "Like my life?"
WOW. I'd never thought of it that way before. In the 10 years that have passed, all of the times we have talked about our memories of that day; about running into different fire departments from all the different states along I-95 on our way to our honeymoon, about how we spent one of our honeymoon nights glued to the tv watching a benefit concert and donating some of our wedding money, about all of the beautiful American Flags we saw displayed everywhere we went. Never, not once, did I make this connection.
Until this morning.
Vince's building was evacuated on the morning of September 11. He and his coworkers decided the best place to be was the Capitol Mall, assuming that monuments would be safe. If United Flight 93 would not have been taken back by the passengers; if those normal, ordinary, every day folks had not banded together, forgot about themselves and their safety, put on their red capes and TAKEN BACK THAT PLANE, my husband would probably be dead. The plane would have crashed into the Capitol, merely feet from where he stood. He'd be gone. There would have been no wedding, and these four beautiful children would not exist.
I had always thought about the lives they had saved that were already living. But, how many lives did they save that hadn't been born yet? How many wonderful little children, who will change the world in their own way, owe their existence to those heroes on that plane? I am overwhelmed with both gratitude and humbleness today after this realization. I know there is no way to say thank you to those special people. But, I can always try to remember to be thankful for the gifts that have been given to us and try to never take them for granted. I can try to pass this love of your fellow man, this sense of bravery on to my children. We can remember, and love, and be so, so grateful.
I will work hard to keep these feelings and this sense of responsibility in heart and mind always.
I looked into my 7 year old's bright, brown eyes and told her, "Yes, honey, like your life."
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