September 11

What were you doing September 11, 2001?  Everyone remembers that day.  I do too.

I was on the phone with my daughter most of the morning.  We felt a connection and didn’t want to hang up.  It was horrifying, unbelievable, we cried together. 

The next day I was to watch her four year old son while she had an interview for a job.   He had seen the planes flying into the buildings and had been very upset by it.  He asked his mother to find a church because he wanted to pray about it.

They went to three churches before they found one unlocked.

When I was baby-sitting my grandson the next day we watched the replay of what had happened one time, then turned off the TV.  We discussed it quietly.  He concluded that we needed a superhero.  We discussed different ones, superman, batman etc.

We talked about how regular people could do super things sometimes.  I asked how we would know if someone were a superhero.  His answer was given with disdain, “he will have a cape!”

We talked about the president and he decided he would send his cape to the president.  His Mother helped him write a letter to go along with it.   Eventually he received a letter back from the White House.  Quite an accomplishment for a four year old.

Of course, then he needed a cape of his own.  A trip to a thrift store produced the material and Grandma sewed it up.  It had to come from a special place other than Grandma.  I think the return address was something like “The American Cape Company” and was delivered with the mail via his Mother.

His reactions helped me cope with the sorrow of that day.  Life had to go on and young people need to feel they can help in some way.

He is 13 years old now.  He probably doesn’t remember much about that time, but that’s okay, I and his Mother do.

Later….