Sept. 11 Weekend

Friday Sept. 9


On Friday, the school had a prayer service to remember 9/11 to start our day.  I had planned on teaching my students a little about the day at the end of the day.  In the morning though, they were very chatty and not listening their best which was disappointing.  The music teacher had to end early because they were talking so much.  Once the afternoon came, I started to teach them about what happened 10 years ago.  My students were born at least 2 years after it had happened so they really had no idea what happened.  I tried my best to talk very gently about what happened that day.  I told them lots of people died and the people who did it did not like some of the things we did here in America.  My students asked lots of questions.  Their faces, when I showed them a few pictures, were in such shock.  Many wanted to know but I told them they could not know everything right now.  That it was still too scary for them.  I showed them pictures of the smoke in the sky and they could not believe it.  We had planned to write letters to soldiers but time slipped away so we are going to do that on Monday.  I told them they are very safe here and there are people working everyday to make sure they are safe.  It brought me chills while I was doing that.  Looking at the pictures for myself, the timeline of events, going back to where I was on that day, lots of emotion came back to me.  The day ended though and Patricia and I went over to the sisters' house to meet Sr. Florence, our site director from CVIF.  She is also in Sisters of St. Joseph and was staying with them for the weekend.  She was taking the extra furniture so we were checking on that.  The five of us ended up going out for dinner at a very delicious Italian restaurant.  I had some stromboli and it was savory! My mind went back to school lunch at SEAS.  When Patricia and I went back to the apartment,  the 3 of us watched movies and crashed for the night.

Saturday Sept. 10


I woke up a little before 8 and worked out to start my morning. I graded and started watching the various 9/11 coverage on tv.  I finally moved from the couch, showered, and decided to straighten my hair for the first time in a month.  Once I finished, I realized how long my bangs were and how long it takes to do that sometimes. I did feel good about it but I didn't leave the apartment that day so the humidity didn't have a chance to ruin it! I graded the rest of the day and did some laundry.  I looked up a few volunteer projects in the area for 9/11 so we weren't just sitting at the apartment all day.  Patricia went to a friend's birthday and Amanda went to meet a friend down in Miami for a little bit.  She came back and we watched a movie and ate some ice cream.  I talked to my Aunt Michelle though and ironed out plans for seeing her this coming weekend! I'm so excited!

Sunday Sept. 11


I woke up this morning a little before 8 and started watching the 9/11 Memorial Service on CNN from New York.  It was very sad and I had to take breaks from it but it was also very soothing to see so many people gathered together.  The memorial built looked very nice and I hope the families find comfort in it. Amanda and I went to the volunteer project about 15 minutes away with about 200 other people there.  They had outside projects for the various companies that donated money to the weekend and then the regular community did projects inside the elementary school.  We made sandwiches for the local food kitchen, wrote letters to soldiers, and lots of other little things in the classrooms.  There wasn't as much planned as we had thought because it was going til 4 and we had visited all the rooms by 2 so we left and came back to the apartment.  I have been working on lessons and updating this, of course.  We are going to Mass at 6 at St. Bernadette's and I'm really hoping that this parish is a little more faith-filled than the last one.  Hopefully I will update after Mass.  I really need some time with Jesus though.  I have a lot going through my head today so hopefully sitting in Mass will help clear my head.

After Mass

Okay so the girls and I went to Mass and it was better than the first church Amanda and I went to in Hollywood.  They had a nice memorial presentation for 9/11 with some of their students.  It still felt a little dead but terrible.  I don't think it is "the one" in terms of churches that I would want to call home.  I still might call about their young adult program because we didn't see anything about it in their church bulletin. I found out the adoration chapel is attached to the rectory which is why I couldn't get into the church earlier in the week.  I won't cross it off the list yet but I still plan on looking at a few more.  

I hope you did something to remember everything that happened 10 years ago.  I can't help but wonder where everyone was and what they were doing.  I was only in 7th grade, sitting in class (religion I think) listening to Mr. Lyall when one of the teachers came in and told him what happened.  After school, mom had to go get gas and the lines were extremely long! Mom legitimately needed gas though but that's when I learned about how the gas and oil industry worked.  I was very scared for the next several weeks.  I couldn't really grasp it.  I slept on my parents floor I'm pretty sure because I kept having nightmares.  Mom, Jenae, and I made flag pins with safety pins and beads for a lot of people.

Anyway, that's what I remember but I know that I typed it on my parents' computer right after it happened so I'm sure there's a more accurate memory at home somewhere.  Regardless, I hope you say thank you in some way today and everyday for still being on this Earth with the people you love.

"Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us and the greatest is love." ~Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning by Alan Jackson