Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2006. Mattie was four years old and loved our calico cat, Patches. Patches understood Mattie's importance in our household, and she was truly patient, gentle, and kind to him at ALL times. In this particular photo, Mattie decided to play with Patches on our staircase. I am not sure who was more entertained by Patches' toy.... Patches or Mattie. They were good pals and as Mattie was dying he really wanted Patches to visit him in the hospital, but the hospital did not allow cat visits. Nonetheless, I remember how good Patches was with Mattie and how much he loved her company.
Quote of the day: Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. The victims were in airplanes or in their offices: secretaries, business men and women, military and federal workers, moms and dads, friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge -- huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. ~ U.S. President George W. Bush.
I will never forget that horrific day in 2001. I was home and Peter was at work in Northern Virginia. I was pregnant with Mattie and when Peter called me to turn on the TV, I was absolutely stunned. It was frightening to watch the total disregard for human life and of course, now years later, I understand all too well the lifetime of devastation for all the families affected. This morning, Peter and I watched the History Channel, who has been doing a fantastic job covering the 15th anniversary of 9/11. Their documentaries are educational, emotionally overwhelming, and deeply meaningful.
In fact, the History Channel had a documentary entitled "Hotel Ground Zero." I honestly did not know there was a Marriott Hotel at Ground Zero, a hotel that was completely destroyed when the South Tower fell down. The documentary highlights the terror within that hotel and we got to hear the stories of several hotel survivors. One of which was a woman in a wheelchair dealing with multiple sclerosis.
To see a short clip on Hotel Ground Zero go to: https://vimeo.com/28059002
What we noticed however while watching the 9/11 documentaries, was Sunny was getting very depressed, dejected, and sad. It was obvious to both of us. I can't quite explain it. I don't know if Sunny could see and process what he was seeing, or he was sensitive to our reactions to what we were watching. Either case after an hour or so, we needed to turn off the TV and take Sunny for a walk to reset him. He is that kind of pooch!
No comments:
Post a Comment