A Note About 9/11

I know this is two weeks late but I never posted my thoughts or where I was when this horrible thing happened 5 years ago.

I was driving to work like so many people were and I heard it on NPR. First I heard that one plane had hit the World Trade Center but that was all anyone knew at the time. By the time I parked and went into work I heard that a second plane had hit and then I knew that it wasn't an accident.

Something that I always remember about that time was how so many of my co-workers said that they were going to think more about life-work balance. Two of the women I worked with at the time started making a conscious effort to stop and take a lunch. A year later I reminded one of the girls of that when she was working like crazy one day. She just laughed.

One really did take it to the next level and when her husband was offered a transfer to another country there was no question about her going with him. She took a leave of absence from our company and she's really enjoyed the time this has allowed her with her daughter.

The thing is most of us did feel that way when that horrible day happened. We thanked God for being alive and we promised that we would spend more time paying attention to the important things in life. I was reminded of that when I was listening to some of the people who lost loved ones that day, on NPR this year.

The question is, did we stick to that promise to have more of a life-work balance? I think about that especially now that I’ve been so swamped with the kids and school and such. It’s almost 9:30 at night and I need to get the kids to go to sleep, I still need to wash a load of laundry and I need to take a shower. After that I need to pack Seth’s lunch. I forgot to buy bread so Miranda’s going to have to buy lunch again so I don’t have to make her lunch but I do need to pack her a snack for the afternoon.

I long for a job that would allow me more quality of life. I dream of a day when I’m a published writer. I don’t know that I’ll ever have it, but it’s nice to dream, isn’t it?