Ten years. It's hard to imagine. In many ways it is still so present and in others, it's so long ago. Beau and Harry were 5 and 6. So small. Their west side NYC condo provided shelter to a crowd of extras on the night of 9/11/ The KC contingent who were all across from the WTC as it happened and worked their way up the FDR then across town. Parent's friends who all worked in lower Manhattan in the financial district. Ida & Perry lost so many friends from Cantor Fitzgerald etc. Ten years marks a lot of progress. They have grown into young teens. Beau is driving and Harry's not far behind. Their memories are more restricted - the chaos at school, the crowd at the house taking over their beds, and the muted conversations of the adults trying to make sense out of the insanity.
It is strange to witness the differences as the 10th anniversary plays out. Our NYC office is relocated to the new WTC 7 building. Ground zero had been transformed into a memorial. As accidents happen, we were in NYC for a wedding when Bin Laden was finally taken out. It was a marker but not an end. There is no doubt this a long struggle between freedom and those who want to dominate and destroy everything America stands for.
Ida, Beau, Harry, Quentin (Harry;s friend) and Peggy all headed to mass this morning. After the ND vs. Michigan debacle from the night before, Pleep suggested the Irish need to return to their roots, start a novena and recommit to being a Catholic university.