Five years after 9/11 - How has your life changed?

I'm sure most, if not all, of us remember where we were and what we were doing on the morning of 9/11/01 when the first and/or second plane hit the World Trade Center towers. It is one of those defining moments of national tragedy that seem to happen at least once per generation. (Pearl Harbor on December 7,1941 and JFK's assassination on November 22,1963 are big ones for the baby boomers and their parents generations).
I was at work that Tuesday morning, trying to catch up on things from the day before because I had been at jury duty. I had the radio on in my office and was only half paying attention when they announced that "a small commuter plane" had hit the north tower of the WTC. Shortly after that, I went down the hall to my boss's office to get some papers and mentioned the plane crash to him. Neither of us thought much of it at the time. A short time later, I heard the news of a second plane hitting the south tower. I called my boss to relay the news and he said, "wow, has the GPS system gone down or something?" It never occured to him (or me) at the time to think it could be some kind of attack.
Then they started saying on the radio that they thought maybe a plane had been hijacked and flown into the buildings on purpose. Next thing I knew, they were saying that another plane or possibly a truck bomb had hit the pentagon. There were rumors of explosions at the capitol building and the white house. I tried getting on to some of the news websites but they were overloaded and I could only get basic information once in a while. Everyone in our office was walking around in a bit of daze not believing what we were hearing. We didn't have a television in the building so all the information we had was what we heard on radios that a few of us had. As I heard the radio news reports of the chaos, I remember thinking that this must have been what it was like for radio listeners in 1938 when they heard the War of The Worlds radio broadcast.
It wasn't until about 3pm that day when someone brought in a small portable tv that I was able to see the full scope of the tragedy. Tears slid down my cheeks as I watched the towers collapse. It looked like a scene from a movie but it was all too real to those who died or lost loved ones. It seemed like the whole world had gone nuts.
A friend of mine was in New York and was supposed to be flying back home that morning. I tried calling him to see if he was alright because at first they didn't know where the planes that hit the towers had taken off from. His cell phone went straight to voice mail the 3 times I called. I finally just left him a message to call me and let me know he was alright. He called later that afternoon to say he had been stuck on the tarmac for hours when all flights were grounded after the attacks. They ran a full security sweep on his plane and all the others that were on the tarmac before bringing them back to the gates.
It was incredibly eerie driving home that night past the airport as I did every night but not seeing any activity at all. I just wanted to get my then 12 year old son and go home and pretend the world was still the same safe place it had seemed to be just that morning when I drove him to school. Little did I know then how my life was going to change.
I can't really say that my life changed because of 9/11 but it definitely had something to do with it. That Friday night, I was supposed to go to my friendly neighborhood bar with some girlfriends as we did many Friday nights. However, one of them was out of town and had been unable to return yet due to the airline situation following 9/11. Another wasn't feeling up to going out, and I don't recall what happened to my other friend, but she wasn't going either. I had decided not to go either since no one else was going. I was sitting in my living room watching TV at around 10pm. The only things on were more depressing reports about the tragedy that week. I decided I couldn't take it anymore and went ahead to the bar by myself figuring I would have a quick bite to eat, play the trivia game there, listen to some music and get away from the depressing news on TV.
That was where and when I met D. He was there with some friends and had walked over because one of the only open seats at the bar was right next to me. He asked if anyone was sitting there. I said no and went back to eating my sandwich and playing the trivia game. We started talking a bit about the game but I wasn't really paying much attention to him until a drunk on the other side of him started making comments about us being together on a "bad first date or something" because we weren't talking to each other. It was a little strange but we ended up talking to each other as co-conspirators against the loud drunk. He didn't ask for my number that night despite us talking for close to 3 hours. (I found out later that the bartender told him that I was pretty much a "regular" on Friday nights so he decided to play it cool until the following week). To make a long story short, here we are 5 years later, very happily married with 2 children (3 for me but 2 together). I never would have imagined that tragic Tuesday morning that this is where I would be just 5 years later. Was it because of 9/11? Probably not entirely, but it definitely played a role.
How about you? How has your life changed in the 5 years since the tragedies of 9/11?

Loser men and the women who love them

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been pretty busy getting used to the new job and keeping up with things at home. I'll write and tell you all about it soon. But first I just have to tell you about what happened the other night when we went to play poker at a friend's house.
D. and I were invited for a friendly game of Texas Hold 'Em poker at a friend's house. There were 2 single guys, a married guy that came without his wife, another married couple and D and I. We each put $10 in the pot and got 25 chips to play with. The winner would get $50 and 2nd place would get $20. Not huge stakes, but it made it fun.
So we're sitting there playing and, of course, I get elimated first. No big deal, I'm having fun anyway. Then, the other married guy and one of the single guys gets elimated. Then D got elimated. So it was down to one single guy and the married couple. The wife starts doing really well and is catching up to her husband while the single guy gets closer and closer to being out. The husband starts making nasty comments about the way his wife is playing, even though it's working for her and she's starting to win more and more. Then the husband asks where "Murph" is (this other guy we know that said he might come, but I'm glad he didn't because he's a loud-mouthed, obnoxious, drunk) and saying he'd be happier losing to "Murph" than to his wife because at least "Murph" knows how to play. I couldn't believe he was saying that and at first, I thought he was joking.
Finally, the other single guy was elimated and since it was only the married couple left, the guy holding the money slid it across the table towards them and we all got ready to play another round. We all thought that since it was just the 2 of them left, it didn't matter who was first or second because the money goes to the same place anyway. Boy, were we wrong. The husband announces that they are going to keep playing so he can beat her and she can see how you're 'supposed to play'. Again, I still kinda thought he was joking. But he was all too serious.
Sure enough, his wife started beating him and after one hand that she beat him at, he shoved the chips at her and knocked them all over the place. She seemed to take it in stride and joked that he was just being a baby and a sore loser, but I couldn't believe how childish and horrible he was acting towards his wife in front of their friends. He was totally pissed off and out of control, calling her stupid and everything. I couldn't believe she just sat there and took that kind of abuse from him. Needless to say, it made everyone uncomfortable and we were all really glad when they decided not to stay for another game after that.
After they left, everyone seemed to relax and have a better time. I've never really liked this guy and can't help but wonder what this woman is thinking staying with a guy like that. Then again, I wondered what she was thinking when they first got together. When she met him, he had a 2 month old daughter by an ex girlfriend. Next thing I knew, she was pg by him and their son is less than 14 months younger than his daughter. They married shortly after their son was born. Now, I've heard through the grapevine that she recently caught him cheating on her and they've only been married just under 2 years. What can she be thinking?
The thing that really gets me is that she is such a sweet person. She doesn't deserve to be treated that way and I don't understand why she puts up with it. (Not that any woman deserves it, but you know what I mean). Why do some women have such low self-esteem that they allow men like this to treat them like dirt? I guess every woman at one time or another in her life goes through a phase of trying to save the world one loser man at a time, but it's still hard to sit by and watch someone so nice stay with a loser like this. Oh well, I guess I can only hope for their child's sake that he grows up and realizes what he has and starts to value her more before it's too late. What a jerk!!!