As we reflect....

From experiencing loss and heart breaks, I know as time goes on that your memories of that day of tragedy start to fade. The day when your whole world changed is still there but the memories are not as strong. For many of us in college and high school on September 11, 2001, that was the day we all grew up. Sure we may have still played flip cup and used our bedroom doors as beer pong tables but part of us was changed forever. September 11 would become like December 25 or February 14 a day we would hear and no longer just be a day on a calendar but be so much more. This date grew to have a heavy meaning to it much heavier than the Tuesday we didn't feel like sitting through a two hour class.

I remember.....I remember praying that our EARLY 10am class would be canceled the night before after drinking way too much and bonding with our new roomates, suitemates, and  boyfriends. And then it was.

What sticks with me today surprisingly are not the horrific images we all watched on tv that day. Instead it was the raw emotion and energy we all felt. No matter where we were in the world or in the country for that matter we felt connected. People's hearts were ripped out of their chest. As I looked around today seeing students study and couples date I noticed how no more than 30 seconds went by before they looked at their cell phone or computer. Amazingly 12 years ago when something  indescribably bad happened we did not go to our gadgets for comfort instead we went to each other. We went for hope, we went for hugs. When we could not contact our loved ones via the phone we did not have the choice to facebook them, or send a text message. Instead we just had to wait, hope, and pray. Hoping the concern from across state lines and oceans would be enough to protect those we cared about most.

Even today when the world wide web and wifi are everywhere even in the remotest villages, even today when we believe we can google any question we may have there is still so much we don't know so much we can not control. What amazes me is how the heart has a way of remembering the good much more than remembering the bad. Somehow the good stays with you and the bad slowly slips away.

The amazing thing is you may forget what you saw but you never forget how it made you feel. We all remembered having to ask our parents where they were when jfk was shot when we learned about it school. That tuesday in 2001 we didn't know exactly what happened but we knew it was big. We knew one day we would be telling our children and now although many of us do not believe it those kids are here and we can only hope they never have to tell a similar life experience story to their kids one day.

I am blessed that most of the people I spent that blur of the week with I am still in touch with. And similar to that day we were reminded that the present truly is a gift and we never know what may happen to shake up our world. I remember hearing so many stories about people's siblings not much older than myself that had studied hard like I was doing, gotten the job of their dream and now were missing.

Last year I made the effort to visit both the Marriott Financial Center and the site of the towers being built. I reflected on how grateful I was to be given the chances I have had even though I have made many mistakes along the way and how many people involved were not much older or even younger than I myself am today. The day I went was a beautiful day much like that morning was in 2001 and you could almost feel the souls speaking to you to never forget.

So Class of 2004 as you start the fall of 2013, I hope you are happy wherever you are in life. Embrace those opportunities you have been given whether it is the city or job of your dreams, travels you will always remember, kids, nieces, and nephews, husbands and wives, nights you will never forget and days you never wanted to end.  The freedom to have those experiences came at a high cost. But we still live and we still remember.

To all of you thank you for supporting my blog and other endeavors. It's never too late to take a risk and I know those brave souls both the survivors and the lost would be believing in the idea of believing in yourself no matter what may come. Live and Love that is my message for today.