Friday, September 11, 2009

9/11

Deb died on Sept. 11, knowing, I'm sure, that it was the best way to make sure I wouldn't forget the date.

She phoned me on Sept. 11, 2001, to tell me the first tower had been hit. Shortly after I turned the TV on, I saw the second tower get hit. So even from the start, the worst day in our lifetimes was a part of our story.

And I know the same woman who loved to tell people that Ronald Reagan nearly ruined our wedding would get a big kick out of my telling people she died on 9/11. "Just don't tell them the year," she'd tell me before giggling.

So even though you'll never see it on a memorial at Ground Zero or hear it as they call out the names of the victims, you can say you heard about the one 9/11 casualty who died in Tampa.

Just don't tell them the year.

2 comments:

Helen H. David said...

Lost my husband on 09/11/07. My condolences to you. I feel the same, like he died on that day just so I would never forget. I even had a shirt in my closet commemorating the Twin Towers, and it said just that, "Never Forget." Like I ever could. I had to throw it away.
Like your blog.

Eric D. said...

It's important for me to let you know that I am affected by your story, and that's not to say I have not been affected a similar way many times in the past, but here I am with a familiar feeling. What do we do when we lose someone we love? What do we do when life is no where near where you want it, it finally starts to look up, and then it's worse than ever before. We endure, and that's the message I see. We love forever, no matter. We stay here, we live on, for ourselves, and for whoever. It hurts, physically, to think of these tragedies, but we believe in something more, if nothing else but happiness.