STORM2K

As we approach the two year anniversary since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, I was wondering how the events of that morning have changed you and your life...

In my case....I've changed drastically since 9/11/01. I now treasure every single moment of every day. I no longer take folks for granted....but instead attempt to always have a kind word, to say something to make others feel better about themselves. There's no doubt I now love my family more than before 9/11....am much closer to my dad, my sisters, and nieces & nephews than before. I treasure my friends....am so humbled to call them friends.

September 11th brought home the stark realization that I wasn't going to live forever....that my life, the lives of my friends and family could be ended or changed forever in an instant; that everything I held dear could be taken away in a second....why I pledged not to be in such a hurry, or worry about the unimportant things so much anymore.

I don't even care about the weather like I did before 9/11/01 (as several of my friends and family have noticed) -- it's no longer my passion, what I spend every waking moment thinking about. Oh, I still keep up to date on what's happening (still get excited every time a new satellite image of hurricane Fabian becomes available) -- but weather & storms are no longer the top priority in my life they once were.


PW

Frankly, I haven't changed all that much; I was told about the possibility in FEMA training back in '85, and I'd been waiting for it. Now that the threat is a reality, I can see how I was "prepared"...and how utterly unprepared most people were.

It's like trying to inform people about disasters of any kind...2,000 flyers go out, but 10 people show up...until the fur flies, THEN they want to know "why", "who", etc.

I believe we had become too comfortable, too "sure" of ourselves before 9-11...now, we are in the same "shooting gallery" as the rest of the world, and it isn't going to "go away".