In August

of 2001 my 4.5 month old hunk of baby and I went to Vegas to witness the most beautiful wedding.
It was held at the Four Seasons and completely catered by them. Only their closets friends and family members were present. It was truly a beautiful ceremony full of love and support for these two fantastic folk. (Who are currently waiting the arrival of baby boy #2.)
My sweet husband drove me to SLC to drop me off for my flight, then took the other two boys home, worked for the next couple of days and drove back down to pick me up after work and back home in one day.
Whew...he must have liked me.
Or else he was really just not sure what to do with two boys at home.
Hunter was in kindergarten.
Carson had just turned two and was a pretty sick little boy.
My friend Tasha nad I took turns playing nickel slots, one of us would sit by the baby and the other would play and then we would switch.
They take under age participants VERY seriously in Vegas.
I had $5 to start with and ended up with $35ish in nickels.
Sadly, I didn't have time to change my nickels into dollars so I carried a bucket o'nickels on the plane.
I wish I had pictures to upload because it was one of the best trips I have ever taken...alas it was before digital came into my world.
And I don't know where all of the wires are to connect my scanner to the computer.
5 weeks later the Twin Towers were hit.
A plane crashed into the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
I'm pretty sure there is more to the story than what was released as general knowledge (I have my sources) but nothing confirmed.
I was lying in bed nursing my hunkahunka baby and the phone wouldn't stop ringing.
Wouldn't.
Stop.
Ringing.
I was worried it would wake my two sleeping boys.
I finally got up to no less than 5 messages from my frantic father.
Apparently, there was some sort of airline crash and no one had heard from my brother in law.
He was working in the White House communications center at the time.
We found out later that my sister had heard from him to let her know he was okay...she had been out jogging and had no clue what had happened.
I couldn't decide whether or not it was okay for me to send Hunter to school.
The thought of any of my family not being RIGHT THERE with me scared me to death.
Jeff couldn't leave work.
I tried everything I could to get him to.
I wore my bathrobe and cried all day.
Luckily the family room was in the basement so no one saw me in my disheveled state.
I kept crying.
I went outside and took Jeff's flag (from his military service) and hung it on our flag pole.
I was feeling rebellious and patriotic.
I was beside myself.
Jeff talked about going back into the Army.
I was more beside myself.
Thankfully, he decided that since his time had been officially up two years previously and he had a wife, three kids, a dog, a cat and a house he didn't need to.
That day changed things in so many ways.
There is no way I could bring home a bucket o'nickels now.
You can't even have lip gloss in your purse without it being in a bag.
And forget bringing your own water.
There are so many men and women who died that day and since.
Some at the Twin Towers close to home and others thousands of miles away where things are not even similar to home.
This is a day I want my children to know of.
It is a day that deserves a memory or two of those who died.
A moment of silence even.
It was a day that changed our country in so many ways.
For awhile it seemed as though we were all on the same side.
Take a moment today and remember. Give thanks that we live in a country that allows us freedom of speech to express our memories, to keep blogs about our day to day lives, boring or not, to honor the men and women who CHOOSE to defend our country. That we live in a country where children aren't drafted into the military at 18 and that our children are spared carrying guns just to survive. Put aside politics and opinions and be thankful for all we have. That we can worship whatever God we believe in, or don't believe in. That we aren't persecuted for wearing jeans and not covering our heads, that we can choose our spouses and the schools we send our children to. That food is plentiful and we have clean water. That we can choose who our government is, whether we believe in everything our officials do or not. That our children can go to college and be who and what they want to be.
Today, be thankful for EVERYTHING our country has to offer. The good, the bad and the ugly.
Then give thanks for what our country doesn't have.
And hug your kids.
Kiss your spouse.
And hold them all tight.
You never know when it can change.