10 Years Later...

We all know what today is. The Anniversary of one of the worst tragedies in our lifetime. I debated about posting anything, but I felt I needed to. Just to release after some emotion hit me late in the day.

I flew today. Without any hesitation, really. 9/11 has been 'just another day' for me for the past 10 years. Not because I didn't care, but because I wanted to have life be 'the way it was', even though I know it never will be.

I remember exactly where I was when I heard about (doesn't everybody?). I was driving to the airport, ironically... not to take a flight, but to go to a conference at one of the airport hotels. It was first reported as a small plane. But then reality came to light and what really happened became apparent. The conference wasn't very productive that day. I had only been in Indy for a few months at this point...

I flew into IND today, from ATL, a flight I scheduled without thought of the day it was on. Even with all the murmurs about the 10 year Anniversary, I was fine with flying. And it didn't hit me until I walked into the terminal at IND. It hit me - hard - when I saw a memorial they had set up in the middle of everything, complete with uniformed officer. I just stopped. It was apparent they had some sort of ceremony that went with it all earlier in the day. But the impact was still there. They even have their own memorial installation with a piece of the steel from one of the buildings. At this point, I noticed I was shaking, literally, and near tears. How can a small piece of steel impact someone like that?

The City also unveiled a memorial with two steel beams downtown today. They, too, had a big ceremony to unveil it and, as with any memorial dedicated to 9/11, it impacts you. Eric and I went by after dark and there were still quite a few people lingering and looking at all. And no one was saying a word.

As much as we all would love to say that fateful day 10 years ago didn't impact the way we live, it did. And we will always remember.