This weekend, like most Americans, I was remembering 9/11 and the horrific events of that day. I blogged about my experience a few years ago here but when I went back to read what I wrote, it seems like that just touched on the experience. Watching numerous documentary and shows this weekend just brought it all back. In fact, I hadn't been able to watch some of those images for many years after it happened. Beyond the fact that they are difficult to watch to begin with, in those early days, I saw them over and over and over and over again at work for 15 hours a day. I really couldn't escape them so it took a long time for me to get them out of my head. Back in those days, I would have to fall asleep to the TV with something completely inane as possible which included a lot of Three's Company or other mindless comedies. I couldn't go to sleep with those images of the WTC getting hit and collapsing burned into my brain.
Well seeing them again this weekend brought it all back. I watched a Dateline special, a 20/20 special, a CNN special, and the ceremony at Shanksville on Saturday. Just like ten years ago, I didn't cry. I just watched in disbelief. It's amazing that it still seems unbelievable ten years later from real life occurrences.
I appreciated the speeches from George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and Joe Biden on Saturday at the Shanksville dedication. I'm not sure even then I fully comprehended what happened in that field. God had spared me from being an eyewitness to the crash at the Pentagon by me running late to work that day. But more than that, God spared the lives of countless friends and Americans who worked in the Capitol (two blocks from my office) or the White House that day. Who knows how life would have turned out differently had that happened? I'm glad we don't have to know and I'm sooo grateful for those 40 who took United Flight 93 down in that field. I've always known the sequence of events and that they were heroes after hearing the harrowing stories of last minute phone calls, decision-making, etc. but it really struck me this year hearing it all over again and once again thanking God for His protection and for those lives given in the air that day.
I was so grateful that the 10th anniversary fell on a Sunday and that I wasn't scheduled to work. I got to experience it just like other Americans, unlike ten years ago when I was working so many long hours and hadn't had time to process any of it. I went to church which had an incredibly moving time of worship and remembrance. I was able to contain my tears, unlike ten years ago when I sat on the front pew and cried my eyes out. This year, we focused on how even in the midst of pure evil, we were able to see the hand of God. And we remembered in prayer those families who were still experiencing such deep loss from those events a decade ago.
Pastor Don talked about a hypothetical school trip one day where maybe Todd Beamer's kids were touring the Capitol or the White House and looking up and saying something like, "yes, my dad saved this place and all the people in it that day." I hope that really happened or happens one day and those kids and family members realize how many people, like me, owe a great debt to their fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, aunt and uncles.
On Saturday while watching the ceremony in Shanksville, Vice President Biden, who was one of those people evacuated from the Capitol that day, paid tribute to those 40 heroes as well. "My prayer for you is that 10 years later, their memory is able to bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye," Biden said. I must say that I like that statement a lot. I hope that the fact that their loved ones are true heroes have brought some comfort to them over the years.
I know that this year's time of remembrance really brought it to mind how grateful I am, not only to be an American, but to live in a place that ten years ago, these average Americans sacrificed their lives for people they didn't know. Their part is just one part of that overwhelming story from that day and at the end of the weekend, I was glad that I had seen the images once again and taken the time to remember those many lives lost that day. Of course, I had to find an episode of Three's Company or some other mindless TV in order to fall asleep! It worked!
Well seeing them again this weekend brought it all back. I watched a Dateline special, a 20/20 special, a CNN special, and the ceremony at Shanksville on Saturday. Just like ten years ago, I didn't cry. I just watched in disbelief. It's amazing that it still seems unbelievable ten years later from real life occurrences.
I appreciated the speeches from George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and Joe Biden on Saturday at the Shanksville dedication. I'm not sure even then I fully comprehended what happened in that field. God had spared me from being an eyewitness to the crash at the Pentagon by me running late to work that day. But more than that, God spared the lives of countless friends and Americans who worked in the Capitol (two blocks from my office) or the White House that day. Who knows how life would have turned out differently had that happened? I'm glad we don't have to know and I'm sooo grateful for those 40 who took United Flight 93 down in that field. I've always known the sequence of events and that they were heroes after hearing the harrowing stories of last minute phone calls, decision-making, etc. but it really struck me this year hearing it all over again and once again thanking God for His protection and for those lives given in the air that day.
I was so grateful that the 10th anniversary fell on a Sunday and that I wasn't scheduled to work. I got to experience it just like other Americans, unlike ten years ago when I was working so many long hours and hadn't had time to process any of it. I went to church which had an incredibly moving time of worship and remembrance. I was able to contain my tears, unlike ten years ago when I sat on the front pew and cried my eyes out. This year, we focused on how even in the midst of pure evil, we were able to see the hand of God. And we remembered in prayer those families who were still experiencing such deep loss from those events a decade ago.
Pastor Don talked about a hypothetical school trip one day where maybe Todd Beamer's kids were touring the Capitol or the White House and looking up and saying something like, "yes, my dad saved this place and all the people in it that day." I hope that really happened or happens one day and those kids and family members realize how many people, like me, owe a great debt to their fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, aunt and uncles.
On Saturday while watching the ceremony in Shanksville, Vice President Biden, who was one of those people evacuated from the Capitol that day, paid tribute to those 40 heroes as well. "My prayer for you is that 10 years later, their memory is able to bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye," Biden said. I must say that I like that statement a lot. I hope that the fact that their loved ones are true heroes have brought some comfort to them over the years.
I know that this year's time of remembrance really brought it to mind how grateful I am, not only to be an American, but to live in a place that ten years ago, these average Americans sacrificed their lives for people they didn't know. Their part is just one part of that overwhelming story from that day and at the end of the weekend, I was glad that I had seen the images once again and taken the time to remember those many lives lost that day. Of course, I had to find an episode of Three's Company or some other mindless TV in order to fall asleep! It worked!
The cool part of being there was that I got to see my friend Missy. She's the one who came with me to see Marine One taking off a few weeks ago. She's a campus minister on the campus of U of Richmond and I was excited to get to see her for a few brief moments after the speech was done!
A really good benefit of being able to spend the day in Richmond is that Brian was going to be in town to visit his grandpa that evening so it worked out for him to pick me up and we spent the evening hanging out with his family!
You'll be happy to know that we didn't have to stay at a place that specializes in colonics this year. We didn't have to negotiate the ability to have solid foods in the house. We rented a big house that was brand spanking new. Absolutely no character and if you look at the IKEA catalog, you'll see exactly what it looked like. But it had air conditioning and forks and only one crockpot and no hydrotherapy room so I count it as a step up!
We did a ton of liveshots and that was before there was really any news!! 
But the best part of this year's trip was that I had a special visitor for a few days!! Let me back up and say that last year, Brian surprised me by sending me cookies (a.k.a. one of my favorite solid foods) and it might have been at that moment that he won my heart. :) But this year, he topped that and actually showed up himself. There was extra room in the big house so it all worked out quite nicely!
We looked at the veggies (and both decided that some of Brian's vegetables from his garden would have won!) and looked at the animals except for the miniature horses (which I was surprised how many miniature horses there were on such a small island) because they made me hyperventilate, as you know. Then we ate something fried and then tried our hand at a couple of games.
We ran into a couple of my colleagues and had Whack-a-Mole competition. I beat my colleagues but didn't win overall so I walked away without a 3-foot hot pink plush bear that was definitely worth less than the $5 entrance fee.
Brian and I also had a quick chance to walk around Oak Bluffs for a few minutes and we made sure that we went to the Flying Horses carousel. It's the oldest merry-go-round in America and definitely a step back in time. I learned the exact meaning of "reaching for the brass ring" as the carousel went around and we grabbed rings, hoping that we would find the one brass ring so we could get a free ride. We would have attempted it more than once but since we were the only ones there without kids and we didn't have much time, we decided that we could cross it off our list and we moved on. 
As I mentioned, the Libya situation was getting out of control so I worked a long time. Luckily, Brian thought watching breaking news was considered a fun activity! I finished work about midnight and then had to be back at work at 5a. Brian rode all over the island exploring. At the end of my 14+ hour day, we met back up and decided to drive to Aquinna to see the lighthouse and watch the sunset. It was beautiful!!! I had only slept for a few hours so I'm squinting a bit but it was such a wonderful evening!
Brian left the next day and I continued to work and do liveshots for the next several days. On Friday, I was in travel pool and all ready for a long day of hanging out with POTUS. With Hurricane Irene approaching the US, POTUS made a statement on his vacation compound about the storm. 
Right after that, we went to hold on my favorite bus from last year and I was getting ready to get settled in. But then the WH announced that POTUS was leaving early because of the storm. So my long day in travel pool came to an abrupt end!! I had mentally prepared myself for hours on that bus and getting through a major portion of a book I'm reading but instead, I launched into crisis mode to figure out a way to not get stuck on MV!! 
This week, I was off for a couple of days and then just saw POTUS for a late M1 arrival on Thursday night. The late night arrivals are pretty cool because it's just a small handful of people here and seeing the chopper land in front of the lit Washington Monument is pretty cool. You'll have to take my word for it because I can never get the flash to work correctly and show exactly how cool it is.
So Monday, I was fine with working late because I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Honestly, I'm having a hard time remembering which day is which. It all kind of blurs together now. But by Tuesday afternoon when I realized that I might not have to stay late, I was so excited that I might get home before 10p!!
So for the next couple of hours, I was stuck inside with about a dozen other journalists. I was trying to figure out if there was any way for me (and some colleagues) to get out a different door/gate than the one where the suspect was being held. But since they hadn't determined that the backpack was safe, we were out of luck. I was getting hungry and was actually considering eating that tuna salad in the vending machine.