My sister woke me up just as the first tower had been hit. I came downstairs to watch the television with her. I heated a Burger King meal that I was too tired to eat the night before in the microwave and sat down to watch. By the time I had comfortably sat down the second building had been hit. We both went nuts.

Next thing Peter Jennings was telling us that it had been confirmed that one of the towers had collapsed. He went over the airplane events and then showed the first tower collapse. I was still waking up and it all felt like an eerie dream, because outside it was very sunny in a cartoonish way yet the live coverage looked like Armageddon on TV. When the second tower collapsed I collapsed spiritually. I've always felt that the USA was special and I still do, but Tuesday before the towers collapsed, it was a different kind of special. It was something mixed with pride and self-righteousness. I know in my heart that is what these terrorists wanted us to feel, they wanted us to feel ego deflation.

The whole time the phone was ringing with a fury I cannot express. Friends and family were calling to find out if my sister was ok. Lucky for her she has been on disability for quite some time. The reason she is lucky is because she's worked for Lehman Brothers for over 15 years and they were located in the American Express building. I believe it is behind tower 2 or something. She has lost some friends that were at one of the towers because Lehman often sent them over as temps. I pray for everyone right now, especially the family of those that lost their life to this horrendous act of evil.

Where I stand on all of this: No mercy, take no prisoners and make sure it is brutal enough that this never happens again. However, I don't condone traumatizing Americans that have Mid-Eastern backgrounds. That is cruel and alienating, no American should ever have to feel that way.

God willing I will be able to make to NYC for the vigil and prayer that is planned. Somehow that doesn't seem like enough and I can't stand feeling like there is something I should be doing.
posted by Lady Ursula 3:15 AM Discuss

We had a weird and fun family reunion this past weekend in Jacksonville, Florida! Well, first my cousin got married on Saturday, September 1^st.It was a beautiful wedding and I think her new husband is a pretty cool guy. He's very intelligent and he even was nice enough to stop in the middle of packing for their honeymoon to give me pointers on taking the SATs. I didn't have a camera throughout all of this, but many people did, so perhaps in a week or so I can post some pictures.

The reunion was pretty kick ass. The reason why I said it was weird is because, originally, it was supposed to be just for my mother's side of the family. Yet since my uncle (father's brother) lives only a block away from my mom's sister and they both knew each other, my uncle invited a few cousins from his side. I met a cousin that has what we call the McDaniel look, she was so cordial that I had to pinch myself. Well, enough about that.

The Spratling reunion, my mama side, was refreshing! I felt honored to be amongst my mother's people. They are all well-put-together people. I'm not saying they are perfect, but compared to me, they are! I must admit that throughout the whole thing, I missed my mother so much yet didn't allow her absence to totally ruin it. I met cousins, and I mean COUSINS, that I never knew existed! Resemblances in both looks and personalities kept me in absolute awe. I wish I did have a camera so I could show ya what I mean. This was my first "reunion", because usually we only get together due to a death.

Also I want to add that my cousin's wedding took place in a Catholic church. I was impressed and I'm thinking about studying Catholicsm to see if I want to join it's church. I don't know if that makes any sense or not. But I was given this message before embarking on the strange journey to Jacksonville, in regards to finding God. I'm not going to tell you what my messenger said, but I will tell you he was right. I'm scared and I wanted to ask my aunt for help, but she was so busy with taking care of the after-wedding details. The only Catholics that I knew were bitter about it, but she , my aunt, is not bitter and has been Catholic since I've been alive. She is our family matriarch and I always joke that she has the "Force". I say this because whenever she prays over us, everything goes smoothly.

That's it for now, I'm working on a new layout and getting those pictures up.
posted by Lady Ursula 12:59 AM Discuss