Thursday, September 11, 2008

The week in review....and please take a few minutes to remember.

Well, I have had a VERY busy last week or more. We celebrated the twins "family birthday last Friday which included me making a homemade cake and not one but two requested dinners. A pot of homemade Chicken noodle soup and Thai Pasta Salad. So I spent about 4 hours in the kitchen that day. But we had a good time and the boys enjoyed their special day.


Saturday was the opening day of soccer for everyone. In our county there were over 500 games being played. Luckily we only lad to be at 2. Jacob is on a team with a very "seasoned' coach and they won against a very tough team 3-0. The twins are being coaced by dad and they did great, but they lost 2-4...oh well. Wish them luck for this weekend!



Sunday was the friends birthday party at the bouncy house place....big fun!!

I want to close with a few words about 9/11. This is my generations "life changing" event. There will never be another social awakening like that for me. Our grandparents had Pearl Harbor. Our parents had all the political upheaval of the 60's and assassinations of both Kennedy's and King. We have 9/11. It's a scar that I feel every day. I remember being nearly 9 months pregnant and laying on the couch the entire day and crying and wondering if life would be the same for my children as it had been for me. Fairly safe, fairly carefree.
Looking back 7 years I think it is quite a different world we live in. While the everyday routine may be pretty ordinary it is ALWAYS in the back of my mind. When I cross the Bay Bridge or Golden Gate I am ALWAYS scanning the sky to make sure a plane isn't headed for us. I am ALWAYS praying that the semi truck next to me isn't loaded with a bomb ready to take down the bridge just as we hit the midway. I defiantly have been hit with 9/11 anxiety syndrome. And I hate it. I want to go back to not worrying that a simple trip to the mall could end up with some nut going crazy and taking taking out my whole family. But this is where we are.
I want to thank each and every troop who has taken the oath to serve this country. You are the HERO that keeps us safe and you have done your jobs amazingly well over the last 7 years. We have been kept safe since that fateful day. My friend Sasha posted on her blog about why is it that the elite get to sip there tea and play croquet on the lawn in the Hampton's while the little guy is the one who is fighting and keeping the country safe. Kudos girl! That's how it has always been. Look at every line of work from farming to software companies. In the older wars rich men would pay other to take their places in the line of duty. {insert eye roll}
When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.
Jean-Paul Sartre

That's my thought exactly. I have a friend who is very liberal and wants to "talk" out wars. He was mad at me because I voted for George W., in that I thought we had a job to do as far as bringing the terrorists to justice. His point was that I have 3sons and it's possible that they will at some point have to serve his country to fight this "senseless war", and is that what I want...to send my kids off to die? That's not the way I see it. I think our #1 objective is to stand up and fight like hell. I don't want to see anyone die fighting in a war, but I certainly don't think dying trying to protect your country and carrying out missions to accomplish that is dying in vain, it's dying while holding conviction and serving the good of the "whole" which is so heroic in my opinion. So many people don't give our service people a second thought and it pisses me off.
I wonder what would be happening if Saddam was still in power and alive. Would things be worse? I guess he played chicken with the wrong country this time around. He did it so often in the 80's and 90's I guess he forgot there was a new President in charge now. And now he's history. And his disgusting children are history. I'll let you wiki them to read about all of the sickening things they did. Yuck and good riddance.
I really hope McCain wins because he was involved in the same sort of war we are in now. A war that seemed pointless and fruitless. But I think he has a plan of attack that could get the real bad guys and I'm willing to give him a try. If he can withstand all that he did as a POW I think he has the fortitude even at his age to get this job done, and I for one am willing to let him do it. I feel much more comfortable electing someone who has some real life experience in a war zone when taking over as Commander in Chief. He seems smart with a lot of experience under his belt. I like him. My 2 cents about the election. Man, I'm all over the place :){deep sigh}
Please remember how you felt on 9/11/01. Think about all the moms and dads who never came home. Think about the terror those families on the airplanes felt when their planes were going down. Think about the soldiers who were watching this all go down with you and me, realizing it was their job to clean it up. Think about the firemen trying in vain to save lives while so many lost their own.
We in America think about the other guy. We have empathy. We have compassion. We give to our brothers and sisters in need...always! We rally. We still have a sense to do the right thing...this I believe...because I see it every time we are faced with a crisis. There is always an outpouring of support. Todd Beamer said it best with his final words. Words to live by when faced with a horrific situation "Let's roll" .
Thanks for sticking with my, all over the place ramblings. Hugs and tears today. And we will never forget.

2 comments:

Kristi @ Mi Vida Ocupada said...

I will never forget that morning. I had just started my job as a Gifted/Talented teacher when I received the following e-mail from one of my best friends: "A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center. They think its terrorists!" I was like WTF??!! Shortly after I received the e-mail, I was working in a 2nd grade classroom when our Principal knocked on the door and pulled the other teacher and I out into the classroom to tell us what had happened. We were asked to not say a word to the kids and continue on with our day as though nothing had happened. That was very difficult to do, as you can imagine. I was able to watch news coverage about an hour after I first received the e-mail, and I was absolutely shocked. It was awful to think that there had been 4 planes hijacked that day, and how it could get much, much worse.

Later that night when I got home, I was glued to the TV....watching in horror as the Twin Towers came down and all the rescue workers and other people who were trapped in the buildings as they fell. It all seemed so surreal. So, so sad. At that time they thought there may have been 50,000 people in the building, and so many people were missing. Who could imagine that something so devastating would happen in our homeland???

September 11th is a day I don't think any of us will forget.

Anonymous said...

I totally remember that day too turning on my tv and seeing the replay of that . awful . being in NJ i remember them saying that one of those planes flew right over where we live too , chilling.

Anyways, your little guys are SOOOOO cute , look at them in their crowns !! give them bday hugs girl :)