Sept. 22, 2001 ~ Catching up
Yesterday was the anniversary of my mother's death, a day I thought I'd never forget. Since it happened on the eve of my birthday, just minutes before I turned 37, there was always a connection there. The first few years after it happened, I didn't feel much like celebrating my birthday anymore. It just didn't seem like a happy occasion. But with the passage of time, those sad feelings faded, and it got a little easier every year. This year, for the very first time, I almost forgot. And that's a good thing, I think. Better to remember someone's life than the day of their passing. One new thing -- I couldn't help but think that I'm glad she didn't have to live through the recent events. She was a career airline employee, as was my stepfather (who was a pilot), and I know this would have broken her heart. She would have cried for all the reasons that everyone else cried, but... well, I don't know if this even makes sense to other people, but she also would have been devastated that the weapons of destruction were airplanes loaded with innocent people. My earliest memories are of airplanes and of flying; I always felt safe and protected. Can anyone feel that way now?
Well.
Yesterday my baby called, my soldier boy. He's doing fine, if you can call doing bomb and weapons searches "fine." This past week it's been his duty to help the MP's search the people and vehicles coming onto the base. This means, among other things, that he gets down on the ground and looks beneath the cars and trucks. I could have done without knowing this. So far, though, they haven't found much of anything.
And today is my birthday. To tell you the truth, I almost wanted to skip it this year. Does this seem like a good time to be celebrating? It feels weird to be happy when so many people are suffering, when the whole country seems so sad. But... I guess the fact that we're still here is reason enough to be thankful. A friend gave me a gift certificate for the Outback restaurant. The guys and I thought we'd have lunch there today. Wrong! Turns out they aren't open for lunch, except on Sundays. Oops. That hadn't occurred to me. So we went to the Olive Garden and enjoyed that very much. We'll go to the Outback some other time. Larry is on vacation this week, so maybe we'll even be able to go there very soon.
What else? Oh, Pepper. He might be feeling a little bit better today, but he's still a pretty sick boy. He's lost so much weight that he looks like he's wearing a fur suit which is one size too large. Poor baby. We give him his medicine and think good thoughts and hope for the best. Tell him we love him and what a wonderful cat he is. What else can you do?
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