Last night, Ryan and I sat down to watch one of the new documentaries released this year for 9/11. It told more stories of passengers aboard the four flights...and almost all of them were new to me. I sat, hanging onto every word of these life stories.
Nicknames. Accomplishments. Quirks. Dreams.
The people who died that day were made of the same things each of us are made of, and it is always an honor to me, each year, to sit with their stories and remember them for the people they were outside of 9/11.
Earlier yesterday, I sat in some smashed grass, taking pictures with my right hand and video with my left hand of Ryan and one of our tenants participating in a pie eating contest.
I can't say I've ever attended a pie eating contest before. I don't think Ryan had ever been in one before. But I documented the daylights out of it! And even as I sat on the grass, cheering on both Ryan and our tenant, it wasn't lost to me that we were making a memory in that moment. On the shelf of fat scrapbooks that tell our story, there will be a page with Ryan's face buried in a plate of blueberry pie.
It will be next to the page about our camping trip with Phoebe....her first camping trip ever.
And that will be next to the page about our 105th monthiversary and our coffee date to celebrate.
So it goes with our memories. These were the daily moments that were snuffed out for so many that day twenty years ago.
That's why I never want to take for granted the opportunity we have to still fill our days with moments like these. And that's why I never want to stop remembering the people who did fill days with moments like these until it all ended so abruptly.
Hearing the stories yesterday also reminded me in fresh ways to live in such a way that I leave a legacy to others when I'm gone.
Live fully, my friends. Enter the pie-eating contests and take pictures (even though they may not be the prettiest in the scrapbook). Make the memories. Live with intention and leave a legacy.
And let's honor the stories of those who have gone before us!
3 comments:
Such a beautiful thought, we are all given the chance to make memories. So important to do so.
Beautiful! I watched a couple of documentaries on Friday night and thought of you!
Powerful and meaningful words: Hearing the stories yesterday also reminded me in fresh ways to live in such a way that I leave a legacy to others when I'm gone. I will be sharing them forsusre!
Thank you for those words of such wisdom.
Post a Comment