Ten years ago I was 22. I was three months into my first job as a social worker, fresh out of college, still unsure of what I was doing and how to do it well. I had court in a small rural town first thing that morning. I got screamed at by an upset parent, in the middle of a crowded hallway. I got chastised in court, by the Judge, for not following appropriate procedure. I was upset, questioning if I was cut out for this field. I went to the small local SRS office to regroup and vent before going to my next appointment with the same parent who had cussed me out earlier. I walked in to find everyone in the office huddled around the very small television watching in shock and disbelief, some crying, all with looks of unknowing on their faces.
It's true our world changed that day. We all felt a little less safe, even in rural Kansas. We all questioned a little more what we were doing with our lives, what mattered most, our own reality. Ten years ago I was still green, naive of the world around me, untouched by a tragedy of this proportion, although I had experienced personal loss and tragedy. We were inundated with the images of that day for weeks following the events. I came home from work every day and turned on the television and every channel was continuing to cover the carnage of September 11. Eventually you learn it's okay to turn off the television, it's not disrespectful to the lives lost to bring normalcy back into your life, to laugh when something is funny, to yell when something makes you angry, or to just enjoy your life again. So today, I woke up, remembered and said a silent prayer, and went about my day.
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