Because it's good....

 

 

 

 

...to be clean after an afternoon of chasing bugs, catching bugs, playing on the slide, running, singing and playing in the grass. A perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon with your Daddy because i was not about to chase, catch or touch ANY bug playing.

Instead of playing, what did i do? sigh....

It seems that every year, on 9/11, i spend the day rooted in front of the History Channel, watching documentaries on that day. I usually end up in tears. I, like many Americans, remember that day so vividly. I remember exactly what i was doing. I remember staring at the TV in stunned silence. I remember tears. I remember watching the second plane hit the other tower. I remember the people of New York, who i though were the toughest folks, running to safety and helping others who had fallen or couldn't run. I watched all of this alone, in my little house in Athens, and for the first time, i was truly scared for our country. And i remember the towers falling, first one, then later, the other, into a massive pile of rubble, taking so many lives with them. I remember praying, out loud for people i didn't know, and their families, asking God to please be there for them, to not let anyone feel alone.

The news of the other two planes came. And i just stood there, in the same spot in my living room, watching. Wanting to do something, ANYTHING, and not knowing what to do to help. More lives lost. And i continued to stand there, stunned, watching that day unfold in front of me, wanting to do something and doing nothing. Nothing but praying....which looking back, was probably the best thing for me to do. I prayed for the folks in the planes. I prayed for the folks in the towers. I prayed for the Pentagon. I prayed for the wives, husbands and children of these folks. I prayed as hard as i could....and yet so many folks lost their lives. I like to think that God was with each one of these folks who lost their lives and looking after the ones they left behind.

I think that it's perhaps time to start a new 'tradition' on 9/11. Perhaps cooking/baking for our little town's Firemen or First Responders as a way to say "Thank you for all you do". In all honesty, i don't think that we think about these amazing folks till we need them. These folks run into danger when many of us are trying to figure a way to run away from danger. It takes a special man/woman to do that job. Somehow, baking something to say 'thank you' doesn't seem like enough, but it's somewhere for a Mommy to start.

I have always loved firemen. I don't know why. Maybe it's the uniform. But they have always been 'cool' to me since the age of around 5 when i decided i wanted to be one. Then i realized, in later years, that they did more than just save little kittens from trees. They actually RUN into fires! Nope, i knew then that i wasn't brave enough to be a Fireman. I was scared of the dark, for heaven's sake. No, i wasn't brave enough, but i was thankful that there were men and women who were brave enough to do the hard, scary things that i wasn't brave enough to do.

Once, while i was in college, my most-loved little vehicle, my Mazda, caught on fire while i was in it. The engine caught on fire and i sat, in the car, with my seat belt on, staring at the fire, while the fire got bigger and bigger. Luckily for me, a fire truck was returning from somewhere and saw me. One of them, came running towards my car, as i sat there like a bump on a log, watching the fire. I had the doors in my car locked. The fireman kept hitting my window till i finally paid attention to him, unlocked my car door and he then got my seat belt off and pulled me out. A few minutes later, my little car was completely in flames.

Fireman also help hysterical Mommies when they accidentally lock their little child in their car in the garage. Yeah, that really happened. What can i say? I'm a first time Mommy!

So, next year, 9/11 will be different for me. No more History Channel on that day. No more wishing i could do something or sit there, wishing i could find a way to say how grateful i am for what they do. I will find some way to say "Thank you" to these brave folks...