On the morning of September 11, 2001…I was doing what most people were doing…just going about my day…working..traveling…getting the kids off to school…noticing that AUTUMN was just around the corner…planning the days events…which included unlike most people…

…getting a Birthday Cake for my baby boy Cooper’s first birthday. September 11

I remember standing in the bakery,  after I retrieved the kids from school, after I spent hours glued to the television, crying with the phone glued to my ear..alternately speaking to my Mom, my Sister in law and my best friend.

I stood staring at the freshly decorated cakes behind the glass…but all I could see were the buildings falling down…the horror of it all…then like my mirrors reflection, I caught the eye of a woman across the bakery….dazed and distracted…, somehow our eyes met and she said

“It’s my daughter’s 6th birthday…I feel so conflicted..this all feels so weird”.

I agreed…saying “This is my youngest sons First Birthday…he won’t even know if I don’t buy him a cake. We could just skip his Birthday cake…but his siblings won’t understand” …

…and so I guess…we both took our children a Birthday cake.

Every year, Cooper’s birthday is on THE DAY. And every year…on this day…as I recall the horrors which changed the world…as we watched on a beautiful Autumn morning…I am eternally grateful for my  sweet sweet Cooper. He is my reminder of all things Good and all things Great…

The Grace of God.

Today we celebrate a very important day in our family and we honor those whose lives were changed beyond recognition…on that beautiful day in September.

Life beats on. We never forget. Babies are born. We will always remember. People pass away.

And Kids grow up…I now have 3 teenage children.

Heaven Help me…

We are Blessed.

Happy Birthday Cooper.