nmah720.xml

nmah720.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-01

I was at home, taking care of my 1 1/2 month old son and 4 year old daughter. My neighbor was over and we were probably trading some parenting tips. All of the sudden my secretary came bursting out of the at home office, saying "the World Trade Center has been hit by a plane, turn on the TV!" At first, I thought it was a hoax. Then as we watched the second plane hit the second tower, the enormity of what was happening began to hit me. I still had a surreal sense about it, until a couple of days later when I was talking to a complete stranger who shared that her favorite grandson had been killed on one of the planes. We cried over that and everything else together.

I am not as quick to fly as I used to be.

The really important things in life. The things you can't take with you. The way you show people you love them, the way you show people you care.

The "oneness" of us all. We are all in this together, we have to look for the similarities that bring us all together. Not focus on the differences that isolate us apart.

I did not fly one. I did put one in my window. I am glad to see so many flags around. It seemed patriotism was pretty low before 9/11 and now its everywhere. One of the ironies that strike me is how the flag and patriotism have now become the new marketing tool.