I Would Not Be in Sacramento Without September 11th, 2001

My eyes tear up every time I watch a video or see a picture of the WTC on September 11, 2001. I'm not much different than anybody else in America. That tragic event has affected every single one of us. No one was left untouched. Not one person. I don't care who you are or where you live, September 11th has changed all of us.

I was at the doctor's office the morning of September 11, 2001. I don't listen to the radio, so I didn't know what had happened. Nobody watches TV at the doctor's. The doctor took a blood sample from me to do an FSH test. I would not know the results for several weeks until I received a very short, brief letter from my doctor. It said simply: You are no longer able to conceive children. That was pretty abrupt and insensitive, I thought.

It's not important what else happened to me that day because I was in Minneapolis. I was not in New York. But my heart was in New York. And the days that followed made me think. I thought about where my life was headed, what was important to me, and what I wanted for the future. I believe many Americans had similar thoughts over the days and months after September 11th. We are all connected. I think Tom Shadyac is right.

One morning in January of 2002, I climbed out of bed and instinctively knew what to do. I needed to go back to California. I had been living in Minnesota for 10 years or so, but California was where I belonged. My husband was in shock when I told him the news. I don't know why. I guess because he had only known me in Minnesota. He did not think about my connections to California. I never really wanted to leave California in the first place. I had no choice when I left.

But now I had the power to choose to go back to California.

Our home had tripled in value. Thank goodness for real estate. We had the financial means to go. By summer our home was on the market. Shortly after that, my mother suddenly died. It was definitely time for me to leave the bitter cold winters with 50-below windchill temperatures. By early October, we moved into our new home in Land Park, Sacramento. Because of September 11th, this Sacramento short sale agent and her husband are now living in California.