6 Years

It is September 11th, isn't it. I wasn't thinking of the date when I posted frivolity this morning.

But I think one of the lessons I learned from September 11th, strangely enough, is that frivolity must survive.

Like everyone else out there, I will never forget that day six years ago. I see myself 20 years down the road, explaining to my grandchild (who will be nearly 22 by then) about that day, and how it changed our lives, much like my grandfather told me about Pearl Harbor.

I truly believe in 20 years I will still be able to remember everything clearly. The night before, we had been watching Monday Night Football. My team had been on, and one of my favorite players had been badly injured. That had seemed so upsetting on Monday night. On Tuesday morning, nothing could have been less important. I went downstairs to take O to school, and I saw what was happening with the first tower. I went upstairs to wake the rest of the house (we had company from out of town visiting), and by the time I got back downstairs, the second plane hit. In 20 years, I will still remember that feeling...like someone poured cement in my belly.

In 20 years, I will still remember the faces of those poor souls whose lives were ripped apart...their fear and sadness a tangible thing, even across the airwaves. For days there was nothing but that fear and sadness and horror.

Then, one day, someone said or did something funny...and I laughed. And I felt awful about it. After all of that terribleness, how could anything ever be funny again?

But how could it NOT? Should we stop living, because so many others did that day? Should we let the terrorists change the fabric of our lives even more than they already had?

To me, the answer is NO. Frivolity and fun, joy and laughter, make life worth living, and to live without it, is not a fair testament to those lives that were lost.

I will never forget. It will be a part of me for the rest of my life. I will never take the events of that day lightly. But I believe lightness should still surround us, whenever possible. Because one other thing I learned that day...you just never know. So embrace the frivolity while you can. There are plenty of forces out there ready to steal it away.