In Remembrance of 911- 20 Years Later

20 years... 

It has been TWENTY years since what is considered to be one of the most tragic events in American history. 

And for the past few days, I have been thinking about it. 

I wrote a few years ago about the immense sense of unease and foreboding I felt for a time prior to the event. I won't rehash my thoughts here (click here for old post regarding it), but what made it so complex is that I had taken a flight two days before the tragedy. I remember feeling awful inside, but the issue wasn't me flying anywhere. 

Then the event happened. And I understood. 

And here I stand some 20 years later. I woke up this morning and did my usual things. I spent about 20 minutes praying about a few things, and about the day in general. I got dressed and walked 2.5 miles. 

And I thought back to the day of the tragedy. And I thought about how I just didn't know that day that I would be where I am 20 years from then, right now. Only God knows. I was thankful for Him keeping me and never forsaking me. For showing grace through all my hard and complicated spaces. 

Over the years, I have said how shocked I have been that we have not had more terror attacks. I am thankful for that. We have had so many more tragedies over the years, some of which we have become desensitized to. But the gravity of such a sudden terror attack, one that changed our security measures forever... wow... I am just stunned that this hasn't occurred more often. 

It is so hard to stave off the fear of what tomorrow brings, the fear of the unknown. 

Tomorrow isn't promise. Neither is the rest of the day.

Today I pray for the comfort of those who lost loved ones on that fateful day. 

Today I pray for all of us that live with the memories, the residual effects of that day. 

And I am thankful for we have not experienced that level of tragedy in the last 20 years. 

And let's hope we never will again. 

Happy Labor Day 2021

Summer was here. 

And now summer is over. Well, not officially. But may as well be.

Happy Labor Day! 

And this is a time of musing for me. For there are only 4 months left in the year... 4 months to get all the goals I had swirling in my head out into the open, and magically attain them all. 

I say that every year.  And my only big goal for the year has to be to withstand the pandemic, to stay clear of the virus and to stay alive. 

And it's bad that we are STILL in this situation. Then mix into the pot horrific fires out west and hurricane ravaged states, and well.. it's a doozy. That's all I can say about that. 

I have to admit that I am anxious, that I have quite a bit of anxiety. This is fueled by constantly peering at the news programs, wishing for, hoping for, praying for... anything, anything positive. I'm waiting for someone to say "It's all over. We return to our regular scheduled programming. We return to our regularly scheduled life."

We return to our regularly scheduled life.

That is my goal for the year. 

I have been working from home for close to 19 months. I have had some good days, but right now, my days aren't the best (when it comes to work productivity, that is), and my eyes are glazing over.  Part of me wants to just take a leave of absence until this whole pandemic thing is over. But that is just wishful thinking. I pretty much expressed to my boss that I wanted to just take one day a week off, just to eat up some of my vacation time. I have about 4 to 5 weeks over what I can carry over to next year, and I just need to eat that up... even though I am not going on vacation. 

To ease my anxieties, and to shutter my weary glances at the constant rush of fear-based news flooding my television screens, I crochet.  I write. I busy myself with little projects around the house- cleaning out closets, cleaning out the garage, etc. 

But mostly, I crochet. 

Here is a recent crochet project completed in August.

The name of it is "Minty Dreams".

That beauty was for a 12-year -old girl's birthday. It doesn't photograph well, but the colors are minty green and pale plum. They are the girl's favorite colors. In fact, her mother said that they are every little girl's favorite colors. I did not believe this. So I asked a 9-year-old girl who lives across the street from me what her favorite color were. And wouldn't you know it, she said purple and green. 

Hmm... what is it with these pastel hues of purple and green? 

I guess it is a girly-girl thing. I think it came out really nice, though. And I am going to make one for the little girl across the street since I have extra yarn. It will make a nice Christmas present. 

(It screams "Happy Easter!" to me, though. LOL)

I think she will like it. 

And making it will ease my anxiety. 

And that is all I can hope and pray for on this Labor Day 2021.