Rest in Peace

We all remember where we were September 11, 2001 when the attacks on the twin towers occurred in New York City.  I was reading a book on our front porch.  My mom had just returned from running some errands and told me that she just heard that a plane had just crashed into a building in NYC.  It sounded absurd to me.  How could such an accident happen.  We went inside, and turned on the TV just in time to see the second plane fly disintegrate into the second twin tower. 

What horror.  Pain, sorrow, sadness, fear.  All those feelings erupted inside of me.  Families ripped apart, and for what?

It seems appropriate that today, on day 20 of my 30 days of gratitudes challenge, that I be thankful for peace.  I'm grateful that I've never had to live in a place where war is part of the every day life.  A place where terror is something you feel when you wake up, and go to bed.  I hope to be blessed with living in peace for the rest of my life.  This world can be so ugly.  Filled with men and women who just want to hurt others.  Filled with hatred.  With everything that is going on in Ukraine, and the Middle East, it's a thought that crossed my mind on occasion... will we always live in peace?

I think of our grandparents and think about some of the things they lived through.  Going to war when they were young adults.  Childhoods filled with flying shrapnel and fears of being imprisoned by the Nazis.  Radiation poisoning from bombs going off in their neighborhoods.  This was the case for Brett's grandmother. 

How blessed are we that men and women work to keep the peace for us, sometimes sacrificing their own lives so that others can live in peace?  What courage.  What selflessness. 

I can't help but feel for all the families that were directly affected my the planes crashing into the World Trade Center 13 years ago.  They started their morning like any other day, with no clue about how their lives were just about to be turned upside down.  I feel for them now, more than ever.  I just can't help drawing a parallel between this tragedy, and losing Preston.  That's how my day started.  Just like it had for the past month.  Brett got up and fed Preston while I got ready for work.  I went downstairs and spent about 10 minutes with them before needing to leave for work.  I kiss him on the forehead and left.  Had I known that I would never get to hold his warm wiggly body, I would have done something I've never done before.  I would have played hooky and not gone to work.  Had I known that I'd never get to see him smile, or giggle again... 

Unfortunately, life doesn't quite work that way does it?  We don't know what's in store for us.  We don't know what tomorrow will bring.  That makes it so much more important to do everything possible to make this world a better, happier place.  That makes it so much more important to be grateful for everything that we have, everything that we hold dear - our spouses, our children, our parents and siblings.  Our friends and colleagues.  Our pets and our homes.  Our senses and resources. 

Hug your loved ones today.  Hug them tight.  Eventually, we all lose someone we love... it's the cycle of life.  Sometimes though, we lose under the most unexpected circumstance.  In the most unexpected moments.  Dreams may become shattered and sadness may overwhelm us.  For those of us who have to deal with such a loss, we will forever remain on a roller coaster of emotions.  Sometimes the dips and turns will be much larger than other times.  It's the hope, that with time, the roller coaster ups and downs will have smaller dips.

Rest in peace victims of the 9/11 attacks.  Rest in peace my little angel.