On This Day: 18 Years Ago

I remember where I was 18 years ago today. I was working in a central secretarial area for a some executive suites. I answered phones, typed, and did other office type jobs for the businesses that rented space there. On the morning of 9/11 one of the clients who rented an office in the building came in the front door and said, “A plane just ran into one of the twin towers. I heard it on the radio”. I honestly thought it was someone with a single engine plane who miscalculated.

“That’s terrible!” I said, “Are they ok”? The woman who delivered the news looked at me and realized I did not understand the magnitude of the situation. “It was a jet,” she said.

I was stunned. There was a second girl who worked the desk with me and as more and more people came in with updates I turned to her and said, “I have a portable black and white TV at home. Do you want me to go get it?” “Yes.” she said.

About twenty minutes later we were watching it all on an 11” black and white tv.

Another of the suite renters came in as we talked about the people jumping from the tower. “That’s impossible,” he announced. “I was just there and there is absolutely no way anyone could jump from those towers. Impossible, absolutely impossible!! The media is just pumping this up.” The rest of us in the office were all silent as he explained to us why he had knowledge of this.

The towers went down. The pentagon was hit. People were… gone.

Silence.

Where were you on this day 18 years ago?

It's a Girl!

Our daughter Genette is 24 weeks pregnant and the nickname of the baby is Little Foot. (Remember that movie, The Land before Time? One of the dinosaurs in that movie was named Little Foot).  She and her husband decided to do a gender reveal party with a dinosaur theme, of course. At the ultrasound when the gender of Little Foot was discovered, they had the technician write it down and seal it in an envelope. Genette and Abe had no idea if the baby was a boy or a girl. Genette gave the envelope to her very good friend, Alyssa, and she planned the “reveal” for the party.

I have to hand it to them for having patience; they waited a week and a half after the ultrasound to get the news and Alyssa waited that week and a half keeping the secret from Genette and Abe! I’m not sure I would have able to be so patient.

At the gender reveal party, Alyssa put colored sand in two red glass bottles to keep the colors a secret. At the appointed moment, Genette and Abe poured the sand into a clear glass cube which revealed the gender of Little Foot: pink and purple for a girl or blue and red for a boy. We all counted down, “One, two, three!” and the sand flowed pink and purple.

A GIRL!! Our family is having a girl!! How exciting!

Little Foot’s story has a great beginning. I look forward to being able to tell her about the excitement we felt when we found out that she was coming into our lives.  I’m going to write it down, too, so when she is older, Little Foot will be able to read about how very much she is loved. 

I encourage you to write down your stories too and share them with the little ones in your life.

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Summer Reading 2019

I have been preparing for Summer Reading 2019. The Collaborative Summer Library Programming this year is a Universe of Stories. So, I came up with the theme of Many Moons Ago for the title of my program this year.

I’ll be telling folk tales, fairy tales and original stories using puppetry and storytelling. I’ve been constructing stick puppets to use for one of my stories about the Sun and the Wind. It is an Aseop Fable and a lot of fun to tell. I’ll be getting audience members to help me out with the puppets and creating dialogue. Oh, how interesting it can be when you allow an audience member to talk. You never know what someone is going to say when you give them the opportunity.  I’m excited to get the stories I have prepared on stage and to get the audience involved!

Little Foot is Coming!!

My husband and I are going to be Grandparents!! Our oldest daughter, Genette, (ok…and her husband, Abe) will be having a baby this Fall. I am so very excited!!

My family has had a long season of hard challenges and the happy news of a new little one coming is helping us all to have a feeling of renewal. Bryon (our son) and Carmen (our youngest) are both thrilled about this baby, too. They are going to be an amazing Aunt and Uncle.

Genette and Abe have nick-named the baby Little Foot. Cute, huh? If you remember the Dinosaur movie from long ago, you know that there is a possibility of a dinosaur theme in the nursery.  They haven’t decided officially, though. Since their house is a fixer upper, there are renovations to be done before the baby arrives. The projects are happening slowly because they are doing the renovating themselves, but they are underway.

This November will be a very busy and happy month for us. Bryon and Amber will be getting married so Steven and I will have a new “bonus kid,” and Genette and Abe will become parents in the same month . The family grows.  What a lovely holiday season this will be for us. With all that has happened and is happening still, it is nice to look forward to some sweet events to make life richer.

And as always we’ll have a new story to tell!!

A Sore Throat

I have a sore throat right now. My husband has been ill all week and I am afraid I have caught a bit of what he had. It is very inconvenient to get ill, but I am especially inconvenienced this time because I am out of town. I don’t like feeling this way when I am away from home. However, since I am, I will make the best of it and get some additional sleep.  I usually stay up until 11:00pm, but I’ll be going to bed about 9:30pm tonight. I’ve been drinking tea all day, trying to shake this off, but it is still hanging on.  Certainly, it is a virus and I’ll have to let it run its course.  

Isn’t that hard to do sometimes, letting something run its course?

It has interrupted my plans and expectations for today. Oh well, sleep is time when your body is healing and right now I am able to go get some extra sleep. It will give me time to dream and who knows, there might just be a good story in those dreams.