The Healing Field

Ten years ago today, I woke up late for work.  I had fallen asleep on the couch in my apartment and woke up to the phone ringing.  My sister Jenn was calling me and told me to turn on the TV.  What I saw was heart breaking and horrifying.  Today, our family visited the Healing Field across from the Sandy Town Hall.  It’s such an amazing sight to see thousands of flags representing each person who was killed in the attacks on September 11th, 2001.  Each flag bears a name and some information about the person it represents.

This was our second year visiting the Healing Field.  Last year the boys really enjoyed walking through the flags and we took a few pictures.  It gave Josh and I an opportunity to remember and to also silently give thanks for the freedoms we are afforded by those willing to fight on our behalf.  Neither of the boys really asked any questions and our visit wasn’t long.  

This year we took some more pictures, but R was very curious.  He wanted to know why today was special.  I told him that ten years ago, three planes crashed into three buildings and a lot of people were killed.  Then he said “That’s sad.  Did the pilots fall asleep?”  At that moment it hit me that I had never had to explain this before.  Of course he is only 8 so he wouldn’t dream that someone had done that on purpose.  And I stuttered for a moment because I didn’t know what to say.  I wanted to be completely honest, but I didn’t want to scare him.  I didn’t want him to have a fear that there will always be someone out there trying to hurt him.  I decided not to sugarcoat it, but also not to go into too much detail that he might not yet be able to process.  I told him that the pilots didn’t fall asleep but that some angry people took the planes over and crashed them on purpose.  I was grateful that he took that in, but didn’t ask anymore questions about the “angry people”.  As we were walking he asked why there were cards with names on the flags.  I let him know that each flag represented someone who was killed on that day.  After that, while we walked he would stop occasionally and read one of the cards, then he would tell me something about the person it represented.  He told me that one card said a man had three kids and a wife.  Then he said “I bet they are sad.”  I agreed with him and told him that’s why it was so important that we remember this day and these people.

I’m so thankful for this beautiful country that I’m so blessed to live in.  I’m also grateful for the men and women who leave their families to make sure than mine and millions of others can feel safe and protected.  My heart goes out not to only those killed on 09/11/01, but also to all those who are still mourning the loss of their loved ones, the survivors who struggle with their memories and to every citizen of this country.

As I said before, we took some pictures today and I’m happy to have these memories with my family that they can carry with them and remember.  I hope that we are able to do this every year and treat this day with the reverence and respect it deserves.

Here is R with the flags and climbing on an Army truck that was there for the kids to explore.  

Here is my H.  He’s such a serious baby and I swear he understand more than we give him credit for.

Here is C, while I don’t think he completely understood why we were there but he did his best to be respectful.  

 My three sweet boys.

 Josh and I

Our Family

 The flags with Sandy Town Hall in the background.

 The flags and the mountains

The beautiful, bronze memorial they unveiled yesterday.  

God bless America.

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