There have been two days in my life where upon waking I've received news that immediatelybrought me to tears.
The first was September 11, 2001. I'm sure I'm not alone there.
The second was October 25, 2006 when my husband gently shook me awake and said, "Lil you need to call your family. Your dad had a stroke."
I never want to feel like I felt on either of those days ever again.
On September 11th, I was hurting for the nation,
grieving for all those who lost loved ones, but mostly
I was worried about my sister.
I knew she lived on the same block as the towers and for hours
we were unable to get ahold of her. I was so frustrated I couldn't be there with her.
If she was going to have to experience this first hand, then she
should at least get to have her big sister with her.
On October 25th, I was completely in denial.
My Dad couldn't have a stroke.
He was only 56, in good shape, no high blood pressure. He's pretty easy going and he'd just run a marathon three weeks before. He doesn't smoke, he doesn't drink. He fell into NONE of the"at risk" categories and this was NOT FAIR!
Both experiences really taught me mortal life is short. Sometimes we don't even know how short. Each day we get to live on this beautiful planet is a giftand the most important thing we can do with that gift is make sure we are doing what we need to do
to be with our FAMILIES FOREVER.
To my Dad and Sister: Sorry for bringing up some unhappy anniversaries.
On both of these days, I'm grateful for my prayers that were answered.
I'm grateful you both take care of your bodies, Jessica, so you could walk out
of the dust and debri barefoot and in your pajammas and get to safety and
Dad, so you could heal so quickly and completely.
I'm also grateful you are both so funny and made these experiences
easier for US to get through. Yes Jessica,
surviving a terrorist attack should mean you get free cookies everywhere you go
and No Dad, we probably won't stop referring to you as Strokey the Bear.
I'm glad you're both still here.
Love Lil
2 comments:
Wow...you had a sister that close to the towers-bare feet and pajamas in the debris. I want to hear that story sometime.
I am also sorry about your Dad. Two years ago my Dad crashed his P-51 Mustang. It was too close to losing him, and not time yet.
Lastly, your hair is pretty rad in the picture:)
Thanks for sharing. Stories like these remind us all of how fragile life is and that we shouldn't take our loved ones for granted.
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