Worlds Collide

On Sunday morning, Ben and I were enjoying a slow start to the morning- an extra cup of coffee, waffles with peanut butter and watching the news. Of course every station was covering the 10th anniversary of 9/11 so that's what we were watching. I still remember that fateful day 10 years ago. I remember arriving at school for a seemingly normal day senior year of high school kind of day. I remember spending the whole morning in the library with others watching TV. Nobody could teach....nobody could write papers or learn that day. Time stood still as we watched the terror unfold.

On Sunday, they showed footage of the planes crashing into the towers over and over again and many Americans relived the fear and utter sense of helplessness as our nation came under attack. Ben was happily playing with his trains (will blog more on this later.....OBSESSED with his new trains), when the clip aired of the second plane hitting the WTC. He watched it, paused, then went running to his books and grabbed his favorite book about airplanes called "I Can Fly a Plane." He brought it to me with a big smile on his face, plopped in my lap and wanted to read together. I couldn't help but recognize the irony of reading this happy, whimsical childrens book about how wonderful it is to take a plane ride. The child arrives at this fascinating place called the airport and sends their bag through this mystical tube thing that somehow can look inside of it. Then you scan your ticket and board the magical world of airplane where everything is exciting and new.

How will I someday explain to my sweet boy about the evil that has seeped in and now pervades this world like a flood? How can I shield him from the pain and agony that so many experience on a daily basis? How can I protect him from everything out there and keep him safe and protected from it all? If I could I would keep him in the "I Can Fly an Airplane" world forever....but alas, a time will come when words will need to be spoken and lessons will need to be learned