So well all know what today is, right?
Of course we do!  The two people I know read this are as American as I am, and love every second of it!

But that's not really what I wanted to say...
What I wanted to say is a little bit different.

You know, I really don't remember what my feelings were like when the two towers crashed.  I was a six year old for heavens sake!  I was young, oblivious, and, though I was sad for a moment about the things that flashed across our tv screen, I didn't care that much about what had happened.  Looking back, I see things a little differently--a little, mind you, not much--but to this day, I can't tell you much about what happened that day.  All I really remember is that I was playing an old Nintendo 64 game called Banjo Kazooie, I was enjoying myself...  and it was my birthday.

I feel a little ashamed now when I think back to that day, but not much.  You see, I always thought having to share my birthday with the 9/11 sorrows while I was growing up was a bad thing.  Every year, at the same time, my birthday would roll around, carrying along with it the baggage of a country's sorrows of that day--good and bad.  They were posted in the news, on the tv, and all over the internet.  They were inescapable, and, quite frankly, depressing.  Time changes opinions, though...  slowly, but surely.


Today I woke up in my nice bed, with the sun streaming inside, and smiled up at the sky.  I walked downstairs a little grumpy, dressed in my nice brown cargos and a black tanktop, and nodded/grunted greetings to my family's proclamations of "happy birthday, Chloe!"  and "good morning!"  As always, I walked to get coffee.  When I saw the paper, however, I stopped for a moment.

There, taking up two pages of the Daily News, was full-color article with pictures that was written about 9/11.  My first reaction?  'Oh joy...  More depressing stories...'
...  You'd think I'd learn, wouldn't you?
-whispers-  Don't tell anyone, but I'm still a sinner. ;]

But anyways.
I was thinking earlier today and I realized that I'm not sharing my birthday with the sorrows of a nation.  I'm sharing my birthday with the memories of a nation, good and bad. 

So it's with great pleasure that I share this day with all the people who lived and served--and continue to serve--our country on 9/11.
And happy birthday to others like me who were born today.