This Day....

If you are over the age of twenty, 

then you will, most likely, remember 

where you were on September 11th...  

Just as our parents can tell you 

what they were doing when they heard 

that President Kennedy had been assassinated...  

And your grandparents, if still alive, remember hearing 

that Pearl Harbor had been attacked...  

Those are the huge, horrible days 

in our American history, 

where time stops and the memory 

becomes preserved in one's mind forever...  

This morning was clear, dry and warm, 

almost exactly as the weather was twelve years ago, 

as I walked to the farmer's market...  

It was peaceful outside, much as it was in New York,

 relatively speaking for a big city, 

before the horror ensued...  

As I walked through the produce, 

I noticed the sound of planes 

making their final approach to O'Hare...  

I remembered the absence of that familiar roar

 in the days after 9/11...  

So terribly quiet, it was...  

A folksy trio played music 

at the periphery of the market 

and toddlers danced with their mamas...  

I thought about all the families torn apart that day, 

all the tweens and young teenagers 

who lost a parent when they were just innocent babies...  

Tom has family in New Jersey 

and they attended funerals, 

non stop, for two weeks...  

That morning, I took the El to my office building 

on Wacker Drive, as always...  

We were still newlyweds, 

having been married just eleven months...  

Tom was looking for a new job 

and I was bringing home the bacon...  

As I walked into the office,

 I noticed a bunch of people 

hunched around a computer...  

Thinking they were enjoying a dumb joke, 

I kept walking to my cubicle 

until someone told me about a plane 

hitting a building in New York...  

As the morning went on, 

many of us watched the events 

from the television in the fitness center, 

in numb disbelief...  

My security-minded husband called me 

and told me to come home...  

My office building would have been flattened like a pancake 

if terrorists also took down the Sears Tower... 

It was that close...

I hesitated, since no one else 

was making any moves to evacuate...   

And then T$ used "The Voice", 

of which everyone around me heard, 

as I had unfortunately put the phone on speaker...  

"Do you think anyone in your office 

knows more than the rest of the world???!!  

GET HOME NOW!!!"  

It was a good thing that I left when I did 

because an hour later, the Loop was jammed 

with the rest of humanity, trying to leave the city...  

As I rode the El northward, 

the skyline was eerily still...  

The usual airline traffic was no more...  

As soon as I arrived home, 

Tom and filled the white Yukon with gas 

and took money from the ATM...  

We didn't know if we would need to leave town, fast...   

Twelve years hence, 

the farmers market thrives...  

The tomatoes are plump and rosy...  

The squash, brilliant yellow...  

The grapes, sweet and inviting... 

Little ones dance and have no idea

 of that unimaginable day...  

Life goes on and hopefully we will not ever forget 

September 11 and those who were lost...  

I have not shielded my children 

from this historic event...  

They have watched television specials 

and videos on the subject...  

We have discussed it at length...  

Without creating fear and worries,

 they need to know what happened, 

why it occurred

and what is being done 

to keep it from happening again...  

It was beautiful here today...  

I am so grateful for this gorgeous 

Indian Summer day as I quietly remember 

that September Tuesday in 2001...

I made Raspberry Chip Crumb Cake today...

It is a nice way to soothe the soul...

Raspberry Chip Crumb Cake, Courtesy of Family Circle.com

Serving size: 9 Prep 20 mins Bake 350° 40 mins

Ingredients

Cake

• 1 1/4 cups  all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup  sugar
• 2 teaspoons  baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon  salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup  whole milk
• 2 tablespoons  vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup  dark mini chocolate baking chunks
• 1 container raspberries (6 oz), about 1 1/2 cups

Topping

• 1/2 cup  all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup  sugar
• 4 tablespoons  unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
• 1/3 cup  chopped walnuts

Directions

Cake

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees . Coat an 8 x 8 x 2-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, milk, oil and vanilla.

3. Make a well in center of flour mixture. Add egg mixture to well and beat with a wooden spoon 1 minute, until evenly moistened; stir in chocolate chunks. Spoon into prepared pan and top with raspberries.

Topping

4. In a small bowl, combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter with pastry blender until crumbly. Stir in walnuts. Sprinkle topping over raspberries.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 9 squares. This cake is best eaten on the day its made.