Coincidence?

Another year has gone by.  Yesterday we marked the 11th anniversary of 9/11.  Today marks the anniversary of my adoptive father's death.

My adoptive mother texted me this morning..

"Thinking of you today..love, Mom"

I wrote back that I was thinking of her too but in actuality, I was trying to not think about anything having to do with my father. 

When I used to go to the cemetery with my mother, sister and our families every September to plant flowers and mourn the loss of the man who abused me for so many years, I always saw a Monarch butterfly flitting around the area surrounding his gravestone.  I never thought much of it until a few years ago.

At our old work location, we'd go outside on our breaks and sit on the benches..chatting and enjoying the nice weather during the fall.  Every September a Monarch butterfly would appear, floating and drifting on the breeze.  It unnerved me...but I'd forget about it for another year.

We moved to a new building a few years ago and the butterfly didn't appear. 

Until today.  It was a beautiful day, crisp and clear..and we went outside for a walk. 

Suddenly, something appeared in the corner of my vision.

Remembering

I'm writing this just as they begin the first moment of silence, marking the exact second American Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. 

Watching the televised memorial ceremonies...the replays of the coverage from that fateful day in 2001...brings me back to the feelings of shock and dismay that I felt upon watching the second plane fly into the South Tower...knowing that while one plane could have been an accident, two planes had to be the work of terrorists. 

I will never forget the men, women and children who perished that day...I will never forget their sacrifice.