8 years ago today

Today I've noticed that a lot of people, whether on blogs or Facebook or what have you, have been doing some reflecting on where they were on this day 8 years ago. So I thought I'd share what was happening to me at the time.

Aaron and I had recently moved to Washington to live with his parents because we'd learned that we were expecting and wanted to be nearer to family. They were gracious enough to take us in while we figured out what to do and where to live. We'd only been there for a couple of weeks.

On September 10th I awoke covered in blood. I was miscarrying, and I knew it. The day was filled with visits to the doctor, then the hospital, then the Health and Welfare office to get us signed up for Medicaid to help cover the cost of this unexpected event. We were devastated. To make matters worse, the doctor suggested that I naturally manage the miscarriage. So by the next morning I was still in a lot of pain while my body tried to deal with the sudden ending of my pregnancy.

Aaron and I were still in bed when my mother-in-law Gayla came into the room frantically telling us that New York City was under attack. We had no idea what she was talking about, of course, so we made our way to the living room where the news was on. We spent the next little while watching the horror that was happening. It took quite a while for me to grasp what was going on. It was all so surreal and I was just utterly confused. I don't remember much of the rest of the day, but I do remember sitting on that floor, looking at the screen and just feeling lost and helpless. Here I was on the complete opposite coast from those horrible events, but still feeling terrified and unsafe.

In the years since, I have become increasingly grateful that Aaron and I had made the decision to move. It put us behind a year in school and caused his parents to lose money in the house they'd helped us to buy less than a year before, but it allowed us to be surrounded by those who love us during two very scary events in our lives.