Ten years ago, life as we knew it was dramatically altered with the blink of an eye.  Our country was invaded by terroist that imployed a plan for mass killing.  Sadly, they accomplished just that. 2,966 lives were lost, and those who survived did so with a somber existence. 

As Alan Jackson sings in his beautiful tribute, where were you when the world stopped turning?  This is something that will be embedded into people's minds forever.  They remember exactly where they were when the first plane hit the tower, and the terror that they were feeling as they watched the second and third planes hit their destinations never fully faded from their memory.

I was in a classroom teaching preschool at the time of the attacks.  I remember frantic parents coming in and picking up their children, and I admit that I was anxious until I could go myself and pick my daughter up from her school.  The rest of the day we spent sitting out in the yard, staying close to one another.  It was a beautiful warm September day, yet the stillness in the air was startling.  What was to become of our nation?

As red, white, and blue decorations sprung up on almost every house, lawn, and business across the USA,  slowly we stood tall in true United States of America fashion and sent this message to other countries: "We will not be knocked down!"  Our nation bonded together under this tragedy and united we triumphed over the hurdles to rebuild our lives.  The unity we presented showed our strength, and put a tiny band aid on the hearts of so many families that were personally affected by this tragedy.

For all of  lives lost, all of the survivors and heros of 9/11/01....We will never forget.

As another summer reaches an end and fall is lurking around the corner, I am forced to sit back and reflect on my goals that I had set for myself at the start of my vacation.  Did I accomplish all that I had set out to do?

Let's see how I did...
My ever growing array of post it notes have dwindled done to just one lonely reminder. The book proposal that has made a few gray hairs pop up on my head is not only complete, but in the mail as we speak.  Oh, and that one page sell sheet that caused the love affair with my computer to come to a screeching halt...Done. The notes from my 1:1 critique with my writing professor has been implemented and my manuscript is in better shape than what it was three months ago.

Not bad for one summer's worth of work.  I set my goals to a reasonable amount and managed to accomplish them all....plus some!  Here's a run down of the unexpected bonuses that made my summer:
1) I was able to read a piece of my work to my colleagues during the SUNY Oswego Summer Writing Institute
2) Several submissions are now under consideration for upcoming two different Chicken Soup for the Soul series
3) The community project that I started, From Caring To Sharing, has started to receive some amazing stories from people right here in Upstate NY.  The local newspapers have also run articles on this proposed anthology!

While my summer off from teaching was still spent hitting the books (or laptops), I did manage to squeeze in some summer fun.  See the picture above?  That's me and my writing accountability partner goofing off while getting some serious work done.  We spent an afternoon working on a photo shoot so that I could have some updated pictures on my website and for the one page sell sheet that went along with my book proposal.  Once school resumes this week we plan on falling back into a regular schedule again and working on some new concepts for our platform.

As sad as I am to see the warm weather fade away and I dread having to set my alarm clock every night, I will be glad to get back to work and see all of the smiling faces fill the hallways once more.  Soon I will be in a new routine, which will consist of writing during lunch breaks and in between dance lessons, and seeking out new classes to fill the very little extra time that I do have to myself.  It's chaotic and exhausting, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

The sun is shining as we stepped out of the car and into the warm brown sand. It tickles our toes as we walk towards the water to find a place to spread  our blanket. As I glance out at the horizon I can see the sun glistening upon  the water…it is a perfect day for the beach.
 
For the next hour my daughter and I dig the shovels deep into the earth and excavate the dirt to turn into mud pies and sand castles. The sound of the waves  crashing in the distance echoes gently between the giggles that I share with  my little girl. As soon as I would dump my sand out of the mold, she took excitement  out of squashing it the minute I looked the other way. A silly game that would  only last an hour in time, but a lifetime in our memory.

As I looked around I noticed that we were the only ones on the beach that day. Just the two of us, left alone to bask in the glory of our beautiful surroundings. This would be our last adventure for the year, as school would be 
starting soon. Our days together would be limited now by bus schedules and dance  lessons. But for today we have the entire world at our fingertips, with nothing but the peaceful sounds of nature to interrupt our precious mother
daughter time.

 I often wonder how many more times I will get to enjoy days like this. Times when she still wants to play with her mother instead of her friends. How many more afternoons in the sun we will get to walk the shores hand in hand is 
unknown, so for now I am taking in every minute of it. Today she is still my little girl and I want to preserve that in my heart, for you never know how many more chances you will get to hear “I love you mommy.”