A 911 Remembrance and Happy Pink Saturday September 11th, 2010.

   Nine years ago today, I was at work. I am an RN and was working on a very busy cardiothoracic surgical ward at a hospital in eastern Ontario. This ward also had a burn unit in which some of us were trained to work. A coworker had been on break and watching tv in the planning room and came out to tell us that New York City was being bombed.  When we could, we watched in total disbelief, the events that were happening south of the Canada/US border.
   My parents lived through the second world war and tried to instill in my brothers and myself a sense of always "being prepared". This sense kicked into high gear when the tragedy started unfolding. I called my Mom and Dad's to see if they knew what was going on. I had left my 13 year old daughter at home alone with a bad cold and wanted Dad to go to pick her up. I didn 't want her to be at home alone watching the horrific scenes on tv. Mom answered the phone and said that Dad had already left to go and get her.  One child taken care of. Our 15 year old son was at school, so I trusted that he was taken care of also. My husband was at work at a local college, so I knew where he was. You may ask, why was I worried about my family when we were so many miles away in Canada? Well, we live relatively close to Canada's largest airbase in Trenton, Ontario. If there was some kind of Armageddon occurring, that airbase would surely be a target and I needed to know where my family was.
   One of my colleagues, a young woman in her late 20s thought I was being weird (paranoid!). She was born to parents who themselves were born after the war and she did not have children yet.  She had a totally different life experience. I explained to her about my need to be prepared and my concern with the airbase.  She said, "It's too far away. It won't affect us." I knew better!
    As that horrible day unfolded our manager came to us to to let us know that an emergency meeting had been held with the upper management at the hospital and "we" were preparing to accept possible burn casualties. After watching those horrifying scenes on tv I said to some coworkers. "I don't think there will be many casualties to nurse". I received more strange looks. I just knew that there was no way that very many people would survive the catastrophe that was occurring before our very eyes.; not enough to warrant bringing them all the way to our hospital many hours away. As my shift drew to a close at 7pm that day it became evident that I was right. It was plain to everyone's eyes that not many would survive those towering infernos and hijacked planes.
    Nine years have slipped by since that day. The world has changed. My children have grown. My parents are gone now. My husband and I are older. Everyone now knows how the events of September 11, 2001 have forever changed the lives of virtually everyone on our planet Earth.  We, as the Human race, must not let this happen again.  Draw your family close. Love them. Get to know your neighbours. Become involved with your community. Be tolerant, but also be observant. Speak out against hate without imbuiing more hatred. Do your best. Wake up every day with a smile and understand that we live on the most priviledged continent on Earth. We are a lucky bunch of coconuts. Let's do what we can to make our Earth a better place for everyone.
   On this memorable anniversary I am joining Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/  for Pink Saturday. My pink post is going to be a small one because I have been working to get some furniture projects completed while the weather is still warm. I have posted every day this past week, so scrollback and take a look at what I have been up to!!

I did manage to stop into my favorite thrift stores this past week and picked up a few pink lovelies. Above you will see a vintage 1960s towel with pretty crocheted edging.

Here is a small ginger jar with a lovely pink rose bouquet transfer on it. It is made by the Sadler Pottery Company of England.

This is a small pickle dish with a lustre glaze and sweet pink roses. It is made in Germany.

This is a picture of my bedside table. I have all kinds of soothing pinks close by me! The drapes are pink silk damask that I scored a few years ago for $2. each.....I got four panels!! I think they are from the 1940s. They each measure  84 in by 72 in. , are lined and are very, very heavy!! I washed them very carefully in many bathtubs full of cool, soapy water and then dried them on the clothes line. They took hours to iron!!!I then modified them from a pinch-pleat to a rod pocket. I think it was worth all the effort!  There is the pink magazine rack that I bought at an auction last year and then painted. The lamp was a Sally Ann $3 purchase. The cover of my journal is a very pretty collage of pink flowers.

Looking closer now you can see the strand of pinky pearls Tim bought for me when we were on our vacation in St Lucia a year ago. They are draped over an oblong, pink milkglass bowl which I use to drop my jewelry in at the end of the day. The small creamware vase has pink ranunculus flowers in it. The crystal clock is from the 1950s and belonged to my Mom. The tiny Eiffel Tower is from the 1960s and is made from a very pretty pink copper!!

 I hope you have enjoyed our visit today.

The weather is predicted to be sunny and a pleasantly warm 23 degrees. I am off to work on the third piece of the wall unit!!

Take care.

Love and many warm hugs,

Laura.