LIFE'S LOST AND FOUND

so this week has been full of firsts!
after learning there was an opening in the Coop Playgroup in the neighboring town, we signed isaac up! i was on the fence about it for a wide number of reasons, but have no regrets now that a full week of fun is tucked under our belts!



so for two hours, twice a week -- i bring him to the community center and he has all the fun crawling playspace he could ever want!




i set him down and he's GONE!
it works out nicely because once a week, i am one of the parents that will work the playgroup, as we all take turns, which is comforting.
the other three weeks of the month, i have two free hours, twice a week, to run errands and make the use of the solidarity.



he's incredibly enthralled by all of the new giant toys.



he was laughing and running crazy when i came back to pick him up -- and promptly fell asleep the first minute i put him in the car!



**************
i actually can't even focus as i draft this entry because of the news footage of 9/11 i'm watching right now.

it made me realize that at this very minute, 8 years ago, i was sitting on my college apartment couch before class, reading....and my mother called me....and i didn't move from that couch for at least the following 8 hours. classes were cancelled, airports were shut down, ....and my dad had business meetings across the street from the Pentagon, which was terrifying. i had friends working in the Capitol -- and certainly a number of people i knew in manhattan. i specifically remember that feeling of sheer vulnerability, when you weren't sure WHERE the next plane would fall from the sky....

i remember heading to manhattan to pay my respects at ground zero, in october 2001. i expected it would be like any other "tourist stop" crowded with irreverent and rude people. i have never been so wrong. as we walked the final 3 blocks, approaching the twin towers site, you could hear a pin drop. there were hundreds, if not thousands of people there, but i remember actually hearing birds chirping. not a dry eye. flowers. candles. photos. lingering shock waves. utter silence. not even whispers. just wet eyes and nods. a memorial widely respected by common people of all backgrounds...when we all felt a common bond as Americans.

we watched as bulldozers below were moving dirt around, like little ants in a massive, impossible project. the bent metal.

...knowing you were standing where thousands of people took their last breath.

all for what?!

it rips my heart out all over again.
i can't believe it's been 8 years.
i can't believe 3000+ families have been forced to live their lives without their innocent loved ones...
i can't believe we're still hunting down bin laden.
i can't believe it's so difficult for so many people to understand why we're at war...

i can't believe how proud i am to be an American.