I don't think I've shared this here, but one of our drivers has had the most traumatic year.

One of his sones had a heart attack and died in Feb. it was completely unexpected. His son was late 30s/early 40s. Then in early August he came home to find his wife having a massive seizure in their kitchen. She died at the hospital. She had never had seizures before, wasn't in great health, but no sign of anything serious. She was 60. A week later, his daughter, who has a lot of problems with addiction and the law and was living with them, killed herself in his bedroom.

I just saw him for the first time in months. Poor thing. I know he would fall apart if I hug him, so I did not, but oh my heart.

And in much lighter fare, what to have for lunch.

Hmmm, lunch. I want something bad, but I need to eat perishables since I leave for a week tomorrow.

I had to look and see when I first posted. Sept 30, 2001. Reaction to fic in the Bitches thread.

I was reading the Buffy thread! Whoops! I knew i had actually become less smart as I aged!

That poor man, msbelleq He has to be so sad.

I was just cheered up because one of the podcasts I support(moms and murder) just sent me a handwritten thank you with stickers, and they chose pink pen, so it was unexpectedly extra delightful.

The board was such a different thing back then. So much more activity. Not many other social media things.

I delurked in March 2001 and I know by Sept y'all were a fairly major part of my life.

I was only in Bitches for a long time. Natter moved so fast it simply terrified me. I felt like I had to read all the posts and it was overwhelming. Once I got over that I was seriously talky meat.

Poor Cape Hatteras. I fear someday soon the Outer Banks will simply be gone.

I'm kind of glad it's cold and rainy today, because it's not "9/11 weather", you know?

Yes, exactly. I was definitely around the board on 9/11 but don't remember if I posted much or just read with relief when people checked in.

And in much lighter fare, what to have for lunch.

When in doubt: burrito. But if you have a Fancy Salad place nearby you could get one with grilled salmon or chicken on it.

About four or five years ago I got to know a woman whose husband died in the 9/11 attacks.

She was on the phone with him until the end. He was on one of the floors up above where the plane hit.

One of the things that struck me most was that she had to leave NYC because she got completely emotionally exhausted by being a "professional widow" as she put it. She was a 9/11 widow and was trotted out once a year for the great public grieving. Became impossible for her to continue her life like that. Her in-laws never got over it and there was a lot of pressure on her not to date or marry somebody else.

All this strange cultural pressure for her to be frozen in time, at the worst moment of her life.