7 Years Ago.

I remember. As I looked through this fence to the rubble below, I remembered.

Seven years ago right this very moment, I was sitting on the couch at our home in Cadillac. I was nursing our then-one-month-old daughter, Kennedy, after a long night of being up with her every couple of hours. I remember being exhausted. I had been watching NBC Today Show, and I will never forget Matt Lauer coming on to announce that the World Trade Center had been hit. As the morning unfolded, I remember crying as more and more details came together. I called Matt at work several times, just to process what was happening and to stay connected. I remember....and I'm not sure why I did this......but I got out an old American flag, laid my precious baby Kennedy on that flag as she slept, and snapped several photos of her laying on that flag. Simultaneously, I was scared for who could happen, but also so proud to live in America.

And so, today 7 years later, I still remember. I remember that day and the days following. I remember seeing the video of the planes hitting, shown over and over in the days and weeks surrounding that day.

I remember visiting the Ground Zero sight last year when I was in New York for business. Seeing the devastation, yet even out of the rubble, the new buildings that are going up. The memorials.

And, what got me the most, the children's art....children who had lost parents. The children who had lost teachers and fathers and friends. The art spoke so powerfully to me, like the words and tears flowing out of the paintbrushes of those precious kids. And I remember just sitting there and crying. I remember being annoyed by those around me who were laughing and even some making fun of some of the paintings. For me, this was a sacred place, a place for silence and reflection. I will never forget what the place "felt like" spiritually; it was alive and somehow haunting and hopeful at the same time.

Where were you seven years ago? Today, I urge you to find some way to remember. Later, I plan to pull those photos of baby Kennedy out and put them on a layout commemorating the events of 9-11, and expressing my thoughts surrounding this and the aftermath. Remember in your own way, but please remember.

I'm planning at least one more post for today, so until later.....