Random Thoughts: Birthdays, 9/11, and Parenting

 

Itâ??s one day after September 11, 2013, which is the day we remembered what happened on September 11, 2001. Today I have two thoughts on my mind.

First is that today Sammy is 11 months old. Hard to believe 11 months ago today this little guy came into our lives. When I say â??our livesâ? I obviously mean Annie and I but I also include family, friends, and any of you reading this in that equation. Weâ??ve had a lot of people on this journey with us including our amazing online friends. Simply amazing.

Itâ??s also hard to believe that we are one month away from Sammy being one year old. Itâ??s another huge milestone for him as well as for Annie and I. Some days it feels like time doesnâ??t move, like weâ??re stuck in a moment. Thatâ??s usually when the frustrations of parenthood fill the air but for the most part it really feels like we just brought him home from the hospital a week ago. How 11 months is able to vanish into thin air is confusing and bewildering.

Time is elusive. We cannot bottle it nor capture it in our hands. It is an instant. One singular moment stitched together with the next moment and the one after that, otherwise known as our life. These moments are fleeting. Here and then gone with barely a mention. We lament the passage of time as we get older rather than absorb the moments inâ?¦wellâ?¦the moment. Sammy has been a measurement of time for us and to be completely honest, it is bittersweet.

Itâ??s bittersweet because we have him now and will continue to guide him along his journey for as long as my life continues but I know one day I will leave him and he will be left here without me. Pointless to think about but the thought persists. I enjoy this moment with him and I am focused on that but I dread the day when he wanders this place without me. So goes life.

The second thing I wanted to share were some thoughts about September 11 in regards to Sammy. I wrote this yesterday:

â??Itâ??s unimaginable to me that our society can go Forex through something like a 9/11/01 and walk away 12 years later with the amount of animosity, bickering, and vitriol that we have today.

Itâ??s disgusting. Itâ??s disappointing. Itâ??s despicable.

One day, when my son is old enough and he goes to school and starts to learn about 9/11 from the history books I will need to explain my thoughts to him. I will need to tell him how happy I am to be an American and how amazing the story of this country is. In my next breath I will have to tell him why I am so unhappy with this country and how sad it is that greed, lies, and power have corrupted the amazing foundation this land was founded on.

I will have to explain to him why big business does not care about him and how it runs Washington D.C. I will have to explain to him why the politicians (both Republican and Democrat) are so greedy and argue like 1^st graders. I will have to explain how great our country used to be.

This is not about country or anything elseâ?¦really. Itâ??s about human beings living on this planet, traveling our own unique journey. Itâ??s about coming into contact with other humans while we are on our journey and they are on their journey. Itâ??s about the power of people when those people put their minds to something.

Itâ??s about how we came together after 9/11. Itâ??s about how we come together anytime there is a crisis here in America or around the world. I have never seen anything quite like America after 9/11. We were in the midst of chaosâ?¦disasterâ?¦yet there was a sense of love, compassion, and brotherhood that pulsated through this nation and around the world. For a handful of weeks we were once again the greatest nation on earth. We came together regardless of our differences.â?

I want Sammy to grow up with an open heart and an open mind. I want him to show love and compassion in the face of anger and hate. This, to me, is the true mark of a man. Something I wish I was better at. Something I hope he will understand the importance of. Happy 11 months little dude!