never. never. forget.

11/11/11

even after ten years ...

 I watch the families tell their stories
 I hear the tapes of the last phone calls

I see the disaster of the twin towers

even after ten years

I am still glued to the television

and I still cry

I still meet a new person 

and hear a new story

that I hadn't heard before

This years story 
that went straight to my heart 

is Patrick Lyon's
he was not even born on 9/II 
but he lost his dad
a NYPD fireman

the letter that he wrote to the dad he never met
and read at the memorial


oh boy

my heart aches for the man he would

have been ... if he had only got to know his own dad

how different his life would be


he has had a good life
his mom loves him and even married a good man
that raised and took very good care of him


but it hits me to the core


to think how different Sam's life would be
without his dad

as emotional as I feel every September

I sometimes lose sight of the fact

that so many lives were changed so deeply

I think that I have been affected
i mean, i'm sad and i cry, 
i have to wait in long lines at the airport
my cousin is fighting in the war


but really ...
  

I'm in my safe space of the midwest

of course I was affected, but not to the extent 

that the course of my entire life was changed

I did not lose my husband, my son, my sister, my mom or my dad

but i do cry, every year, for those that did

dippin dogs

running free

swimming free
hundreds of dogs
 treats everywhere

some serious dog fun

After the pool closes for the summer

to humans

Tiffany Springs Water Park

opens up, for one day,

to the pooches

I {of course} was a nervous wreck

... at first

everything went fine
 Kosmo and Jack

had a great time
{sadie stayed home, she would have been terrified}

Kosmo acted like he didn't even know who we were

he just wanted to meet new dogs and run free

Jack was so funny
 every time he saw a husky, he would stay with him
like he thought it was Kosmo

 He might have been a little unsure of his new found freedom


we all went home exhausted ...
the dogs 
and us

They slept the rest of the day!


We will definitely be back 
next year

today i am ...

... thinking about what a great summer we have had

we've discovered new friends

and new places to play

we have not gotten up before 9:00 am

more than once or twice

we've gone to outdoor summer concerts,

 penguin park and a Royals game

we've eaten ice cream from the ice cream man,

had water balloon fights, played in the hose,
had countless nerf wars and planted a garden

we've been to the Sprint Center,

Lake of the Ozarks and Yogurtini

we have seen a baby lizard hatch,

tried to save a baby bird and caught three crawdads
and made little habitats for all of them

we've spent days and nights at 

worlds of fun, ate snow cones and

played hide n seek in the dark

we spent precious time with cousins and family from Omaha,

Colorado and Florida.  I love these people so much.

I got to snap lots of silly pictures

of summer fun

{I know ... bad mom, couldn't resist the parkour moment}

summer is coming to a close

and although school has started,

it is not over yet!

the weather has cooled a bit

and I am hanging on to outdoor weather

and still have summer activities planned

we {finally} have our first camping trip of the summer

to look forward to and we still plan on visiting the lake

we still have to play in the creek and go pick fresh fruit

we still have time for many more bike rides and 

late night walks and Sam still needs to paintball
for his birthday

I have enjoyed each sweet summer time moment

and I still am