Slowly I am learning that to plan a ninth birthday party is not disrespectful to the dead. I have not forgotten them, I do not listen to a police siren the same way, and I do not pass my local fire house without wondering about the wives and children whose fathers never came home, who will not be celebrating those 9 th birthdays. I know the ground has shifted, also that life, in all of its mundane splendor, goes on. I asked a friend of mine in the throes of a marital separation if the current events have made her rethink her resolve. I am even more certain that I am making the right decision.
Life is short.
I don't know where I'll be tomorrow.