twilight zone memorial moment

for the past month,

and my husband and co-workers could vouch,

EVERYTIME i check the time randomly,

it is 9:11.

i didn't know whether to be freaked out by it or not.

last night, when it happened as usual,

and i exclaimed,

"OMG, what is going on here!"

i remembered that today is the day.

maybe i was getting a reminder.

i was supposed to stop and think of the room full

of scared teenagers in a high school english class

or the scared look on my teacher's face

when she cancelled class and stared

maybe i was supossed to remember that day that i went home

and it hit me that thousands of people were now without families.

and i felt guilty for being safe.

i am grateful to be where i am, to live where i live,

and to have the freedom we do.

i hope that the worst is over.

[and i can't believe it took 8 years

to make this day a holiday...]