SEPTEMBER 10, 2001

Ten years ago today

The sun was brilliant in the sky

The birds sang the song of a beautiful day

The grass was bright green

The world felt safe

I played with my baby and my preschooler

And did things like washing dishes

And reading stories

And taking my husband to school

Ten years ago today

If I had wanted to

I could have taken my husband to the airport

Walked with him to the gate

Kissed him goodbye as he boarded the plane

And stood with my girls at the window

Watching until his plane backed away from the gate

Taxied to the runway

And soared into the sky

Ten years ago today

We worried about the economy

(Though the economists did not)

And the stock market

And the power company raising our rates

Terrorism was something that happened in countries far away

That we only knew from television

Or NPR

Or the BBC

Ten years ago today

There were twin tall towers that scraped the sky of New York

The Pentagon had not been breached

And a crater did not mar a field in Pennsylvania

Mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, and children

Spent time together

Talked on the phone

Did not know this day

Would be their last

Ten years ago today

We thought we were strong

Thought we were great

But we were not united like we should have been

We did not know how strong

How humble

Or brave

Or united

We could become

Ten years ago today

The sun was setting in the sky

The birds sang their evening song

The grass was a deepening green

The world felt safe

And the world did not know--

We did not know--

That we, and the world,

With the coming dawn,

Would change forever.