Seven Years... wow.

Seven Years.
It is really hard to believe it has been that long since the world got set on it's ear.
Anyone within the collective conscious of 9.11.01 has earmarked their lives with where they were when.

Me, I was in California. 9/11 was my first day of Graduate School (that should have been a clue right there about what was to come in the next two years) at CalArts. Hubby (then my boyfriend) called and woke me up and told me to turn on the television. I remember being a bit annoyed that I had been woken so early ( I was still adjusting to west coast time), and thrilled that he had called all at once. And then I saw it. I flipped the channel and a plane flew straight into a huge building. It was definately a 'wipe the sleep from your eyes' moment as I asked Hubby what was going on. As he filled me in I was struck by the realization that in my grad student apartment of 5 people, I was the only one awake for sure, possibly one of the few people awake in the whole building, and three of these new roommates who I had just met two days before were from New York (as was about 40% of the school in some way). I remember promising to call Hubby back as I left the phone to go wake them.

It was a scary time to be in LA. Some of the initially missing planes were speculated to be headed to LA. Lucky for me, my school was 30 minutes north of actual Los Angeles, something I remember assuring Hubby of a few times. Suddenly Milwaukee, Wisconsin seemed like the middle of nowhere - which I realized was someplace incredibly safe. My roommates and other classmates had a much tougher time of course - many of them lived near the WTC and many had friends and family they were frantically trying to gather information on. The school put up a giant sheet of paper in the main gallery and people added information about those they knew in New York to it so anyone could check it for an update. Every news report and presidential address was screened live in the school's movie theater. People camped out in there, riveted to the screen. School was cancelled for days. We all wandered around, not sure what to do. Bomber jets flew over the school several times a day, but nothing else. Everything was on lockdown. In the days that followed 9/11 as we turned towards war against our new enemy, I remember wondering if this is what it was like when our grandparents entered WW2. One day you wake up and your country is being attacked. It is like an alternate universe that you never leave. In retrospect, seven years later, I think they had it much worse. But at the time, I remember thinking "this is it, this is our war" and wondering if my generation was up for it.

In some ways, I can't imagine life without this benchmark. 9/11 has made us such a strong country in so many ways. We are united in a way that I don't think we were before. Yes, many of the problems we have now can be linked to that day, but I think a lot of good things can be too. And me, I'm a glass-half-full kind of gal, so I'll focus on those positives. One of those positives is that today is also my sister-in-law's birthday. So as much as today is an anniversary of tragedy, for us it is also an anniversary of Karen joining the world. Happy Day! I'm sure there are tons of people with a birthday today, with a birthday of that day, with a wedding anniversary today. If we let the tragedy rob of us letting this be a normal day, well then we are still losing.

I would love to hear where all of you were seven years ago today.

I also wanted to share this poem that Becker posted on his blog today - I thought it was perfect for today:

"Do it Anyway" by Mother Theresa

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, some could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.