September 11th, and then some.

The flags all over Texas were flying at half-staff today...... in memory of 9/11/01.  I saw parts of the memorial services on the news this morning. I just couldn't watch for more than a few minutes. After all these years, it's just very sad, and will continue to be. There is an old Texas saying that goes something like this: "Forgive your enemies.... it messes up their minds."  In this instance, for the 9/11 tragedy, forgiveness is impossible, especially for those who lost family and friends.

Our young friend Miss C flew home from her summer job at Yellowstone today. When she called me last week to tell me which day she was flying, I inwardly cringed, but didn't say anything to her over the phone.  I didn't want my fear to become her fear.  I would never ever get into a plane on the 11th of September. But that's me.  The phone rang about an hour ago.... C called me from the Houston airport.... she was on her way to get her luggage and then meet her parents outside the airport.  I was so happy to hear her voice and know that she was safely on the ground, back home in Texas.

Miss C thoroughly enjoyed her Yellowstone job...... aside from the horseback trail riding and the breath-taking scenery there, she now knows what she wants to do as a career..... therapeutic riding with horses and children.  She has already been offered a job with Habitat for Horses, which will be opening up a therapeutic riding center. Needless to say, she's thrilled. Now all she has to do is find herself a little apartment close by where she will be working. And no more roommates for C.... she said she's tired of cleaning up after messy people.  I'm hoping that she'll be able to visit up here after she finds a new apartment and before she starts working again.

We drove into Bryan today, for a birthday lunch for J and J..... we tried an Italian café up there, on the recommendation of S, who also joined us for the lunch.  I had a big salad with cooked chicken on top of it..... I hesitate to try Italian dishes when I don't see Italians in the kitchen. (Or, as they say in Texas--- Eye-talians.... which could explain why it's so hard to find a really good Italian restaurant in this state.)  My family, both sides, are all Italian, from Naples and Rome.... I grew up on the best Italian food in New York and I'm a tough judge of Italian restaurants, to say the least.

Between here and Bryan, the schools and businesses had their flags flying at half-staff... no matter the situation, that's always a sad moment, to see the flags only half-way up the flag pole. Grim red, white, and blue reminders of a tragic day.  I remember calling my friend Fran on 9/11....... her husband was a fireman at that time, and I knew his firehouse would be called to go into Manhattan.  As fate would have it, Fran's husband was off that day, so he wasn't one of the first responders.  Fran is gone now..... her husband is retired from the fire department..... her oldest son has a little girl, born just two weeks after Fran was buried.

I remembered all of that as we were driving home from Bryan this afternoon.  It was a beautiful day today, just as it was in NYC on Sept. 11th, 2001.  I was sitting in the back seat for the ride home today, remembering the panic and chaos of that day so many years ago.... and I remember talking to Fran about it during so many of our Texas-to-New York phone calls.  The beauty of this day and the sadness of this same day in 2001 made it hard to look out of the car window. I had to shut my eyes for a couple of minutes, to take away the memory of the World Trade Center towers falling to the ground.