Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Always remember today


I know exactly where I was and what I was doing 12 years ago today when I heard on the radio about the first plane hitting the towers. I went to the conference room at my office, and turned on the TV, and with my coworkers standing behind me, we watched the second plane hit the towers. It's so weird how every year on this day, I flashback and remember. And it makes me cry. I sometimes wonder if they remember it the same as I do.

I know exactly where I was 10 years ago today. I was sitting at a Federal Courthouse in Detroit, waiting to be called for jury duty. On the two year anniversary of the event, the city of Detroit (home to the largest Arabic population outside of the Middle East), tensions were high. People were wary. And I was in the middle of downtown, confined to a tiny room with an assortment of characters.

One year ago today, I know where I was and what I was doing. I was at my first class of my six month waiting period for bariatric surgery. This was the start of my journey. Tonight, I am meeting with three of the girls that I met on that first night, one year ago today, for all of us to catch up on our own journeys. We chose different paths to get to where we are. All of us had our surgery of choice (two Bands, two RNY), but we keep in touch with email. This will be the first time that I've seen them since they had their surgeries (I visited them all when they were in the hospital).

I'm excited to see them and catch up. I'm excited to see how much progress they've made (significantly more than me--but I chose the slower road on purpose), knowing that I'll be right behind them--the slow and steady turtle, trudging along.

I'm also happy that even though today is typically a day filled with grief and sadness, that I have a positive event to now associate with this day. We made a pact that we would keep in touch, and get together. Next spring, we have talked about taking a girls weekend to celebrate the one year anniversary of our surgery dates.

September 11, 2012, was the first day of the rest of my life. 

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