September 11...

I’m so ashamed. I forgot that today is September 11. I can claim that I’ve been so confused with the days lately…not getting a newspaper or having to be anywhere…but I have The Washington Post as my home page and I knew it was coming, and yet, I still forgot…until I turned on the TV this morning. I don’t want to ever become immune or complacent…or forgetful about this day (or August 29, when Katrina devastated New Orleans), especially since I’m so far away, and today…I especially feel so very far away.

I wasn’t at “home” in Arlington…on the East Coast…for that 8:46 am moment of silence. I was here, on Mountain Time, at 6:46, just waking for a new day. I wish I had remembered, so I could have paid homage at that moment in time, like I would have at “home.”

I was working catty-corner from the Department of Treasury on September 11, 2001 and was sent home soon after the Pentagon was hit. The streets were filled with terrified and sobbing D.C. workers, all trying to call someone on their cell phones, which, as a result, overloaded the system and no one was able to get through to anyone else. Fortunately for me, my dearest friend from Maryland was able to get through to my phone to let me know that J’s school was keeping the kids in class until parents could come and get them. Her call was such a relief since it was his first few days as a kindergartener in a new school where we didn’t know any of the other families, but especially because S and I were both on the D.C. side of the Potomac River.

I remember the terror I and the other thousands of D.C. workers felt as a jet flew low overhead, knowing full well that the skies had been closed. Then someone shouted…”it’s a military plane!” I remember seeing the smoke billow from the Pentagon as I drove a young, terrified co-worker home (once I was able to retrieve my car) and I remember the sound of the military jets flying all night long, patrolling the skies for weeks afterwards. I want to keep on remembering all of these things and exactly how I felt that day and the weeks afterwards so that I never do forget what happened…or the people whose lives were lost that day. So I will make time today to watch the special programs and to read the special tributes…

On a positive note…I will never forget that September 11 is the birthday of two young and adorable friends…one was born on September 11, 2001, and the other was born on September 11, 2008. Happy Birthday to them!!!!!

Edited to Add:
[oops...that should be September 11, 2007. So sorry to M...ito!]