remembering

today is the 8 year anniversary of 9/11. i am struggling with how to write this post, as i have to admit that this day affects me differently than the previous anniversaries. i have not had any close friends or family in the service during this war, until i met matt. yes, we met a couple years ago, so this is not our first "9/11 anniversary." but today is different. today matt and i can not spend together, today matt is gone for training to be deployed. to risk his life fighting for our country. this is not his first deployment... and there are understandably things he doesn't talk about. he won't talk about. but i know, he has seen things that will be with him for the rest of his life. our lives. our childrens lives. what he has been through has affected the way he views the world. the way he views other people in it. his entire way of thinking. his trust.

which is also what many people suffered on this day 8 years ago.

but what is different is that he is willing. he is prepared for this. he is ready.

thousands of people were not able to say goodbye. thousands of people left this world unprepared, unwilling. their lives taken from them and their families. from their children. from their brothers and sisters, from their soul mates.

let this day remind you of how precious life is. how quickly the world can change. i never thought i would have to prepare myself for the fact that someone i love deeply and with all of my being, may not come back. but in truth, this is a daily possibility. let yourself remember this.