In Memory of 9/11

Today is a day of reflection for me and the events that happened seven years ago in NYC and Wash. DC. The bombing of the World Trade Center and those lost as a result of that will always be in my heart.



It is so vivid to me, because Kyle, my middle child, had been born barely a month before. I was in Washington state with three little kids, packing up for the trekk back to Egypt, where we where living at the time. We were moving from the metropolis of Cairo to Luxor, where hubby was heading up a sewage and water treatment project in the city. Basically, giving people who had no toilets, a toilet. I was flying my parents over in a thinly veiled 'thanks for letting me shack up with you for a few months while I gave birth to my kid' which as really a 'I really need some helping hands to get me from Olympia, Wash. to Luxor, Egypt with three boys aged 4, almost 2 and two months old.' (yes, I look back at some of my decisions and think WHAAAA????)



Needless to say, I'll never forget my father running into the room I was using and telling me about the bombing. He had been on his way to a meeting, had turned around and came directly home. I had said good bye to my husband around August 18th, so ready to see him again in two weeks, and now, wouldn't see him again until Halloween. At the time, I had no idea when I'd see him again, or which continent.



That event changed the course of our lives, we had to move from Luxor, where we would have been the only American, okay, caucasion, family in the 'city.' We didn't know until November where we would be living, and that turned out to be the Philippines.



The project hubby was working on, a large earth fill dam to generate power, had lost those who were working on certain design aspects; the company had been located on one of the floors of the WTC.



And very importantly, Kyle's Godfather lost his brother, who was a police officer in NYC while he was attempting to assist those in the tower to escape.



For these reasons, and the fact that for all the travels I do, I always love to come home because it feels safe and 9/11 took some of that from me, I will never forget this day. May we never forget that day and how lucky we are to live in a country where we are free. May no one ever take that from us.