September 11th....became 9/11...then Sept. 11th again?

I'm sure there are lots of blogs, articles and just interesting conversation today on the 7th anniversary of "9/11" but before it became so ominous, it was just another day right?  I guess there are always ordinary days that are such special days for others (birthdays, anniversaries, "firsts", "the day...insert event here") yet I don't think in my lifetime, another day has touched my life this way.  I'm very torn about the day, I feel so much sadness for not so much the people that lost their lives, but moreso for those left behind.  The kids. The parents. The newlywed. The best friend. The husband. The wife.  Every one who died that day, including the "bad" guys, all left behind some kind of history and family, and all we can do is wonder what if?

We were probably one of the very few lucky ones who didn't actually know of or had a relative die that day due to the tragic events, but it touched our lives because it was 4 days before our wedding.  Many of our relatives couldn't make it, our groomsmen were unable to fly back to CA to attend, and a lot of miracles took place for those who did make it.  I remember that morning, waking up and listening on the radio about a plane hitting a tower, then turning on the news, seeing the 2nd plane...then just spending a couple of extra days calling all the vendors and asking them for changes, thinking instead of death, we were going to have to spend a ton of money to change things last minute, yet they were so incredibly awesome, they modified our "order" without hesitation!  And I remember walking around the block with Mark in the evenings and looking up to the sky and seeing NOTHING, some stars, but NO aircrafts. It was so weird.

Anyways, Our Wedding did happen 4 days later and we did make it on the 1st flight flying out post 9/11 to make our cruise/honeymoon in Vancouver.  A little frantic on Seattle, esp when Mark left the secure area to go investigate on how to get to Vancouver and he wasn't sure how to page me...Ashlee Trinh or Cowan? And would I respond to Cowan?!  Needless to say, 7 years later, I responded that day :)

But for me, "pre-" and "Post-" was about just another day, a birthday, (my former boss' son, Dylan, was born on September 11, 2000...so he celebrated his 1st birthday on 9/11) and a wedding which I was a Matron of Honor.  Christina and Clayton were married on Sept. 11th 2004.  

Happy Day, Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary!