Dear Elsie Jane,

It's Friday. It's September 11. Historical events happen during our lifetimes, but it's difficult to know which ones are of any import. Some historical moments in my parents lifetime include Alaska and Hawaii joining the United States (yes, they grew up with only 48 states), JFK's assassination, Martin Luther King's assassination, the Civil Rights Movement, the first man to walk on the moon, the Kent State shooting. In my lifetime, which has only been 30 years at this point, the Berlin Wall came down, the Challenger space shuttle exploded on launch, the Columbia space shuttle burned up upon entering the atmosphere, the federal building in OKC was bombed, and there were student shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, and at Virginia Tech University. And, of course, the events of September 11, 2001.

The money question always is, "Where were you when...?" I remember. I was working at Blackshear Elementary School in Austin, Texas, as a full-time AmeriCorps volunteer teacher. It was my planning period and I was headed to the library. A fifth grade teacher passed me in the hallway and asked, "Did you hear about what happened in New York?" I went into the library and tried to log onto msn.com to get the news, but the site was bogged down. After pressing refresh for 10 minutes, finally a picture loaded. It was Manhattan island engulfed by smoke. I was aghast.

The days that followed were odd. Our principal wouldn't let us watch TV or read the newspaper with the students around. He wanted the children to discuss the events at home if they were going to be discussed. I would get home at night and turn on the TV and watch hours and hours of melancholy coverage before going to bed, waking up and repeating the same routine. People seemed to be comatose. After a week of watching depressing coverage, I was ready for something to make me laugh, I was ready for primetime television to be restored. It wasn't callous--it was more the need to return to normalcy.

There's a lot more I could tell you about this day in my life, but you'll probably hear the details again and again as you get older. Maybe.

Today, as a four-month-old, you worked really hard on getting your pacifier back into your mouth. We're proud of you, sweet girl. When you couldn't get it back in, you certainly gave that pacifier what for. That's the spirit!

We'll have family in town this weekend for your baptism. I'm going to try to sleep in tomorrow morning because you didn't sleep well last night, and therefore, neither did I.

I don't mind. You're worth it.

I love you.
Mom