Wow, and here we are...a decade later. The images so fresh and the emotions so raw. I've literally sobbed every single day this week. I just can't believe it's been a full 10 years since the wake up call came to America in the form of such tragedy. We have another whole generation now, growing up with no idea of what happened 10 years ago. It saddens me deeply. As I sat stunned and glued to the tv 10 years ago, I promised that my 2 little boys would always know what happened and why and now we have 2 more children that we bare the honor and responsibility of teaching the tragic day of September 11, 2001.
10 years later, I'm sorta pissed. Did we as a nation understand what happened? Did we brush it under the rug, like the '93 WTC bombing? Does everyone in the world not get how great Lou was? Was her life lost in vein? God I hope not. 9/11 changed me, from the inside out, my views of the world, my desire to know all about those countries in the middle east that never entered into my mind before and my political views. I also grew a deep desire to know as much history as I can so that history will never repeat itself.
On this 10 year anniversary, I wonder who she might have been. Would she still be working or would she have fallen in love and become a Mommy. She touched so many lives...she was a friend to many and so many miss her. She was life magnified and she lit up a room when she entered. She was everything in life that I knew I'd never be.
In loving memory and in honor of my high school best friend, I decided to share this personal video in hopes that you can see what the world lost through Lou's smile. She was destined for greatness and it is still so hard to accept the reality of her life 10 years later. These are my memories from days that now seem so long ago.As each anniversary of that tragic day rolls around, I relive the minutes, as I am sure that each of you do. I replay the phone call in my mind from my mother where she only had to speak 5 words, "Tracy....Mary Lou is missing" when my knees hit the ground and the gravity of what had happened sunk in.
I will never forget or will I allow my children, grandchildren and future generations to forget what happened to change America on that day. Each face lost that day is someones loved one. I mourn for their loss and I pray for a safer future.
So in light humor I share the good, the bad, the ugly. The bad hair days, the bangs, the scrunchies, the eyebrows and even the bad prom dresses. But what the camera doesn't capture are the laughs & giggles, the stories behind the photos, the times that there was no camera to capture the moment, the late nights spent talking and being silly high school girls, the innocence of time and the sisterhood of friendship. Please remember Mary Lou.
