Remembering 9-11

When Patrick was 5, he and I flew to Florida and back for a special trip to see Uncle Tim. On the way he purchased an authentic Captain Hook costume. It was very hard to get off of him. He even wore it for Halloween that year. Adorable.
On the flight back I asked him where else he wanted to go in the world. A few places he mentioned were terrorist-restircted. National Geographic for Kids, and world map games were a favorite for us and he was familiar with many countries. So I explained a brief, kindergarden-appropriate version of who Osama Bin Laden was.

A few months later the 9-11 atacks occured. Patrick was in kindergarden and all the kids were sent home early. His teacher called me to warned me ahead of time that Patrick was especially inquisitive. In class, there was an announcement that the attacks had occurred and children would be going home early. Patrick raised his hand and said affirmatively "I know who it is. It's Bin Laden." That was after the two towers were hit, but before the rest of the attacks. It turned out he was right.

When he came home, I answered his questions but arranged a play date outside on the sunny, September afternoon. The other moms and I went inside glued to the television.

When we went outside to check on the boys, they had collected sticks to spell out the words "GO AWAY."

It was the 5-year old boys way of telling Bin Laden to leave in case they flew over our home. It was the only amount of control our little men could muster in a frustrating situation. They saw the great concern of all the adults around them, but weren't sure what they could do.

They found their way. PJ's 16 and wouldn't pose in the the recreation of his stick art. Sadly. But Connor and Nick pitched in.

Prayers to anyone who sirectly lost a loved one on this day.