Born on the 11th of September
Today is my birthday. Bummer of a day to celebrate.
Many of my early memories are that my birthday fell on the first day of school, or just before it. Usually I’d get back-to-school presents, like pencil holders with the built-in sharpener, multi-colored pens, or clothes for school.
In a way I was happy when they moved up the date for starting school, even if it meant losing part of my summer vacation. But it didn’t change the type of presents I'd get from my hard working Mom.
Now it’s a bummer for other reasons.
Three years ago my dearest friend Magna called me to turn on the TV.
I sat there glued, watching through bouts of tears for the rest of the day and the day after.
I have been a news junkie ever since…
They say it is the day the world changed. Yet cruelty and acts of inhumanity have always been with us and I doubt that will ever change.
They say it changed everything. Rather I believe they want to use this day to change everything- to limit our liberties, to settle old grudges, and to advance their economic agenda.
My mother didn’t live to see the attack of September 11th. She lived in Hawaii in 1941 when the Japanese attacked. So I grew up hearing about how the country responded to that with personal anecdotes and narrations of family history. I know if she were alive she’d be yelling at the TV and railing at the current administration’s policies. She never hated the Japanese.
For the last birthday we celebrated together, before my mother passed away, she asked me what I needed for my birthday. She never changed in that back-to-school present giving. I told her, “Get me something I don’t need, just surprise me.”
So she did - I got a bottle of wine, a nice dinner, and a movie.
Which is how I think I’ll celebrate this one…
Many of my early memories are that my birthday fell on the first day of school, or just before it. Usually I’d get back-to-school presents, like pencil holders with the built-in sharpener, multi-colored pens, or clothes for school.
In a way I was happy when they moved up the date for starting school, even if it meant losing part of my summer vacation. But it didn’t change the type of presents I'd get from my hard working Mom.
Now it’s a bummer for other reasons.
Three years ago my dearest friend Magna called me to turn on the TV.
I sat there glued, watching through bouts of tears for the rest of the day and the day after.
I have been a news junkie ever since…
They say it is the day the world changed. Yet cruelty and acts of inhumanity have always been with us and I doubt that will ever change.
They say it changed everything. Rather I believe they want to use this day to change everything- to limit our liberties, to settle old grudges, and to advance their economic agenda.
My mother didn’t live to see the attack of September 11th. She lived in Hawaii in 1941 when the Japanese attacked. So I grew up hearing about how the country responded to that with personal anecdotes and narrations of family history. I know if she were alive she’d be yelling at the TV and railing at the current administration’s policies. She never hated the Japanese.
For the last birthday we celebrated together, before my mother passed away, she asked me what I needed for my birthday. She never changed in that back-to-school present giving. I told her, “Get me something I don’t need, just surprise me.”
So she did - I got a bottle of wine, a nice dinner, and a movie.
Which is how I think I’ll celebrate this one…
posted by Scaramouche |
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perma-link 10:33
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