i took yesterday off

i have decided that i don't agree with people treating sept. 11 as just another regular day. i understand that to not do so would be to "let the terrorists win" but when they murdered thousands of americans...guess what? they acheived their goal. and now we should celebrate the lives of those lost on that day with a national holiday. to not do so is an offense to the honor and memory of the people who died that day.

i'm not talking about the "heroes" -- the firemen and police officers and emts that died that day, although they deserve their tribute, too -- but the thousands of men and women who woke up that day and just unsuspectingly went to work. they didn't volunteer to be a shining beacon of american freedom and what is at stake in this scary world of terrorism, but they became that the minute they were murdered. now it is the least we can do to honor them with a day of mourning and a celebration of freedom.

when i told a colleague this morning i had taken off the day because it was september 11, he looked at me like i was high. i'm sorry, but this day has significance for me, and i can't just go to work and act like nothing is wrong. i work in the very city where the worst of it occured, for crying out loud!

you may not agree with me. and i don't expect most people to think the same as me. i know what it's like to feel this pain more deeply than others. although everyone i know knows how much i am affected on this day, not one person (except matt) called me or emailed me to see how i was. that is nowhere near as bad as on the second anniversary when none of my friends or roommates would accompany me to the remembrance vigil. but what i learned then, that people were over it the second it stopped being talked about on the news, is still true now.

i am not over it. i never will be. but its september 12. and life goes on.