9/11

On September 11, 2002, Paul and I instituted an all day media blackout.  It was too overwhelming to see the endless replays of the horrors of the prior year, to remember the sights and sounds, and those whose lives were lost that day.  

We had just come off the first year of living with colon cancer--Paul had been diagnosed in March, 2002, and was on the road to recovery following chemo, radiation, surgery and more chemo--and we both felt too fragile to immerse ourselves in reliving the pain of September 11th. 

Instead, we spent the evening in Long Beach, walking the boardwalk and seeing the memorials that had sprung up along the way.  As sad as they were, they spoke of lives well lived, of people loved and lost, and there, on the edge of the ocean, a sense that they had become part of everything and everyone.

Tomorrow, I will continue the tradition.  Quiet reflection.  No Facebook.  No TV.  And a walk down the boardwalk to remember what we all lost that day.