Friday morning began cool, crisp and sunny – a fall morning much like September 11 eight years ago.
(C) Igor BalasanovAnd like that fall morning eight years ago, the day began in a fairly ordinary way. In our house, that meant the usual chaos of getting out the door – lots of dawdling, some fights between the kids. And, I was not the most patient mom – in fact, I was pretty irritated at one point.
Then, on the way to drop my kids at daycare, I heard a Story Corps segment on NPR.
And, that made our crazy morning somehow seem unimportant. Even the morning’s backseat competition of who could say “you’re stupid” more times before we reached daycare somehow seemed less irritating.
I always tell my children that I love them when I leave them, but sometimes – especially on frenzied mornings like today – the “I love you” is a bit distracted, a tad too quick.
In the days following the September 11 attacks, I heard a radio commentator remark on the fact that many people on those four planes picked up cell phones to call a parent, a child, a spouse just to say “I love you.”
The commentator observed that when everything is said and done, in the last moments of our life, that’s what matters. It isn’t about how much money you made, or the kind of car you drove, or what your job was. What matters are the people we love and the people who love us.
That was one of the lessons we learned eight years ago when that ordinary fall morning turned out to be anything but ordinary. And, it’s one we need to be reminded of every now and then.
I hugged my kids a little tighter when I left them at day care, lingered a little longer over my goodbyes. Because in the end, that is what matters most of all.
This post is shared on Real Life's "Your Life Your Blog"
