September 11th

Six years have past since that horrible and tragic day. I cannot believe it. This morning after the girls boarded the bus I went in the house to go to sleep...I put the tv on and caught the reading of the names. It is so sad. I did not know one person who was lost that day... which is incredible and fortunate for me considering the number of FDNY firefighters I know. This past school year however Kathryn became friends with Julianna. Julianna is a Minnesauke 2nd grader and in Kate's brownie troop. She is a beautiful and spunky little girl... probably one of the most outgoing kids I have ever met. Julianna's father was a FDNY firefighter and died on September 11, 2001. He was also a former volunteer firefighter for Setauket, although I never had met him... he had resigned before I joined. Setauket FD took charge and gave him a Line of Duty funeral here in town- which I attended. I switched the channel to MSNBC where they were playing all the footage from 9/11/01 as if real time.... it was as if it were happening all over again. Watching the footage again brings you right back emotionally to that morning- the fear the dread, the shock, the nausea... and today as I watched the towers collapse all I could think about was Julianna, her brother and her mom Margarite and how hard today must be for them. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well as all the families and loved ones of those who died.