september 11th.

all jokes aside today. it's september 11th. we all know what it means... national silence in memory of the men and women who lost their lives the day the World Trade Center collapsed. most of us will no doubt spend at least a few moments in our busy schedules to reflect on it - even if you don't want to, it's impossible to avoid the amount of mention it will receive today. as those who came before us will always remember where they were when Pearl Harbor was attacked, or when President Kennedy was assasinated, we shall always remember where we were on september 11th, 2001.

but i'm not here today to talk about that day. i'm here to remember a different september 11th. the day just one year earlier that my friend's son went missing. she put her 8 year old to bed one night and he was gone in the morning. he is 15 now. i think about zach a lot actually. nevermind that i never have actually met his mother. nevermind that this all happened in florida - hundreds of miles away from the tree-lined boulevards of ann arbor. the only thing that matters is that i'm a mother. before i'm anything, i'm a mother. i would die if i lost my daughter. just die. and what burns me up inside every day of the year is to watch dozens of children, young children, run free with no watchful eye on them. i know, i know - this is America... land of the free, blah blah blah. but bad things happen people. even to kids with careful parents. call me paranoid, but i'm not letting mine out of sight until she's in high school. and even then, you never know.

all i'm asking is that we don't forget these children. it happens every day where you live. they're not gone - they're missing. nothing speaks more clearly to that than the case of the little boy in missouri. if you have children, i'd imagine that stories like these hurt your heart. deeply. just as they do mine. if you've never had children, it's hard to understand how awful a parent's love can be at times. but you can still keep your eyes open. an amber alert is not something to be ignored... take a minute from your busy life and read it. maybe you've been chosen to save a child today.

so, if my friend is reading this, please know this: you and zach are in my thoughts every day. not just today. and i pray (something i don't do often) that you and your family will know what peace is one day. oh, how i wish i could just walk out my door and find him for you...