This morning, I woke up, and the first thing I did was go out to get the newspaper. I made a concscious decision not to turn on the TV, because if something had happened, I didn't want to know yet. But when I went outside for the paper, I looked up, and watched the sky for a few minutes. I realized that I cannot avoid the possibility of something having happened, simply by burying my head in the sand. So, now, I am sitting here with TV on, listening to the roll of names of victims.

In the face of this, I have to reflect on the fact that in the one year since, we have been extreme fortunate that there have not been any more successful attacks on our soil, even while in other countries bombings and other attacks continue. But I worry that we may start to slip back into our "Fortress America" mentality. The longer we go without an attack, the easier it will be for those who do not want to believe in the danger to pretend that nothing else will happen, because we are prepared. We aren't prepared. We cannot be prepared. We can try to prepare, we can theorize as to what the terrorists will try next, but we cannot ever assume that we are ready. Part of what terrorists do is figure out what we know, what we think we can take, and find that next step beyond that we aren't imagining yet. That's what happened a year ago, and that is what will happen next time.

Yes, there will be a next time. We are part of the world, and the world is a violent, screwed-up place. We were one of the last to have to face global terrorism personally, but we are not alone. We have to remember that the rest of the world has seen shades of what we experienced last year, and that, while the scope of our loss eclipses anything they have seen in this shadow war, that they have lost many more, over the years, as we sat on the sidelines, insisting it would not happen here.

We have to be vigilant. We have to be aware. But we also have to be alive. The greatest victory we can have against terrorism is to not let it rule our lives. We can remember, and we can acknowledge, but we cannot hide, or run, from life.

I love you all, and I hope I haven't rambled too much. Take care of yourselves, but don't forget to live.

September 11, 2002