September 11th

As soon as I woke up this morning my heart felt sad. I knew exactly what today was without even realizing that I did.. my heart knew. On this day ten years ago I was sitting in our school library beginning a research project in my Junior English class when we got news that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers. Our librarian wheeled a TV in so that we could watch the news and then it happened.. the second plane came out of what seemed like nowhere and crashed into the second tower. I still can't believe that I watched that happen LIVE. At the time I had never been to New York, but had always imagined myself living there at some point. That day everyone was not only an American, but a New Yorker as well. As the days passed after the 9/11 attacks the idea that something so terrible could happen finally began to feel like a reality. Although I was only 16 years old, I spent many nights crying and praying for the people of New York and for all of the people who had lost someone that day. Eventually things returned to normal but the fact that I lived through this amazingly tragic historical even will always be something that haunts me.

Fast forward 3 years. September of 2004. I met the New Yorker that would change my life. What started out as a friendship quickly blossomed into an amazing relationship, then of course a marriage, and now a baby. Our little one may be born a Texan, but it will quickly understand that he/she too is "from" New York. You see, Casey was born in and for 5 years raised in New York, but the fact that he changed geographic locations never changed the fact that he was, is, and will always be a New Yorker. There's something so incredible about the spirit of that place and Casey exudes that spirit daily. Strong willed, brave, hard working, accountable, and passionate are all words that describe Casey and frankly, all of his family. I am so proud that our baby will have these strong qualities all because I never listened to my family's advice to me as a child, "marry a good 'ol Southern boy, you can't ever marry a Yankee!" Haha. (Disclaimer: Of course my family loved Casey from the moment they met him and the fact that he was a "Yankee" was never an issue because their definition of "Yankee" changed immediately). I love my New Yorker and my New York family. When our son/daughter gets old enough to hear about the terms "9/11", "Terrorist attacks on the WTC", etc Casey and I will have to try to explain this tragic event to her/him which will be difficult to say the least. The positive side of this is that we can also explain what it means to be a hero. There are so many heroes that we can talk about from 9/11 and we are blessed to have one such hero in our family.

Casey's Uncle Nick was a NY Fire Fighter during 9/11 and still proudly wears his FDNY hats and shirts daily. He served proudly and for that we will forever be grateful.

Uncle Nick catching a HUGE crab during our last visit to Long Island. :)

I know this post may be very disjointed and the writing is frankly pretty terrible but I thought it was important to get my thoughts down today in one way or another so that looking back on the blog I can remember how I felt today. Somber, yet hopeful. Sad, yet grateful. And of course... as always .. so very proud. To be a part of New York, but most importantly to be an American.