Ten years ago this very day, I was a college student majoring in Elementary Education and Special Education at a small private college in Louisiana. I was working two jobs to help cover my monthly expenses-mostly just gas for my car, groceries, and clothes if I had money left. One of these jobs was working as an A.B.A. (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapist for a little boy with autism. My other job was working at a pool store in the area. I was also dating a particular boy named Josh Wilson. We'd met the year before and had been seeing each other for about ten months at this point. Both of us had crazy busy schedules so we'd arranged what we called "Big Date Night" this night to go out to eat somewhere really nice. We were both looking forward to it and had been talking about it for weeks.
This particular morning I had an early session with the little boy I worked with so I'd arrived around 7:45 to prepare for the 2 hour session we were about to have. After I finished up the session with the little boy, I had to go to work at my second job for the rest of the day. Our two hour time slot was almost finished when the little boy's mother came into the room and said we could end our session a little early that day. I remember thinking this was odd, but then as I followed her down the stairs to the family room, I remember her telling me to not get scared, but that something really bad had just happened. That was when I saw it. It's an image I'll never forget-the Twin Towers completely engulfed in smoke. I watched the news anchors on TV as they tried to report what was happening, saw the pandemonium ensuing on the streets of New York, and saw the shock, disbelief, and horror on every person's face on TV. My own face mirrored theirs. I couldn't believe it; I was in utter shock at what was unfolding before my very eyes.
I stayed at their house to watch the little boy's younger brother while he and his mom went to physical therapy and when they got back I went to work at my other job. When I arrived there, they were all in shock at what had happened just like me. It was around this time that I remembered that Josh and I had arranged to have Big Date Night that night. I called him and after talking it over we decided that we were going to go through with our date despite the events of the day. We said we weren't going to let what happened steal the happiness from our night of being together. I left work early, went back to my dorm, and made myself pretty for my big date. Josh picked me up and we left to go eat at one of the nicest restaurants in town.
Our meal was wonderful and we had a great time being with each other on our special day. We still had some time left before I had to be back at the dorms, so Josh drove to our special spot at a nearby lake where we'd gone camping with friends before. It was here that I received my second big shock of the day...Josh asked me to marry him :)
Looking back now, ten years later, I'm so glad we went through with Big Date Night. I'm so glad that I have a special memory that's associated with 9-11-01. I'm thankful that Josh's proposal was my silver lining that day. I'm so thankful for Josh and for what he means to me. I'm thankful that he's in my life and that 9-11 brought us even closer to one another. This January we'll be celebrating our 10th anniversary of being married and I feel so blessed. I have spent the past ten years with my best friend. We've had our share of obstacles and hurdles these past 10 years, but we've grown together so much as a couple. We've moved seven times, traveled to lots of wonderful places, been there for each other through sickness and deaths of family members and friends, had a precious little boy, and are currently building our dream house. I was thinking today about my proposal and how blessed I am to have such a wonderful husband. I said yes to him this day ten years ago, but my heart says yes to him every day. I love him so much and I'm so thankful to have him in my life...
9/11/01 To all those who lost loved ones and friends my heart goes out to you. My prayer is that God's peace will continue to guard your heart and wrap you in His love. I pray that God will continue healing your heart. We will never forget this day...
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