Stardate 65694.12 - 9-11-01, Ten Years Later

Cheryl and I moved to NYC in November, 2001.  She received the job offer in August 2001 and we were starting to make plans to visit Manhattan to look at apartments when 9/11 occurred.  It was odd to be looking at apartments in the weeks after 9/11 and have landlords and agents ask if we were relocating from lower Manhattan.  Of course, 9/11 literally hit pretty close to home as we were living in the DC-suburbs of Northern Virginia at the time.  Cheryl was in her office at the US Census Bureau and I was in a meeting at my job at Booz Allen Hamilton.  I came out of the meeting and had a voice mail message from my mom asking if I was in the Pentagon that day (I had Pentagon access at the time).  I thought it a very odd question at the time, until a secretary ran by and told me what had happened.  I called Cheryl and while I was on the phone with her she was told her office was evacuating so she started what became a long drive home.  We lived only 10 minutes away from my office so I went home as well and we watched everything unfold on television for the rest of the day.

People asked me afterwards if we were still moving to Manhattan.  I tried to explain that I could have just as easily been in the Pentagon on that day (and Booz Allen Hamilton did lose 3 people in the Pentagon that day).  I don't think either of us really gave a thought to not moving.

Five years ago I took the following pictures from the balcony of our rental place at 66th and 2nd ave.  We don't live there anymore and I don't think I've taken any more recent photos so I've posted these again now.  I felt like I should put something up here on the anniversary but I also think we've moved on.  Maybe because I personally didn't know anyone lost on that day, but at some point we have to get past it.  Not over it - never over it - but past it.

I'm glad to live in Manhattan, to have my kids go to school there, to work there.  Even though we usually spend our weekends outside of the city we have no plans to permanently relocate out of Manhattan any time soon.  I said it 5 years ago and I'll say it again - we're proud to be in NYC since November, 2001.



Atlantic Highlands, NJ

Stardate 65669.46 - A Wedding on the Outer Banks

Back in May my cousin Jenny Orrock got married on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  It was too far of a drive and too expensive to fly everyone down there, so I went to represent my family and my cousin Angelique went to represent her family.  It was a wedding on the beach with reception in the large beach house they rented for the bridal party.

The mother of the bride, my Aunt Melinda.

My Uncle Harry, with his daughter Jenny.

I loved the cake with brown sugar as the "sand" on the beach.

Atlantic Highlands, NJ

Stardate 65669.43 - March of Dimes Walk

So I am pretty far behind (as usual) in posting items to the blog.  Back in April of this year, after we returned from vacation, we participated in the March of Dimes walk out in NJ.  Our neighbor (Michael St.Amour) from when we rented the house in Highlands, NJ (before we purchased a place one town over) asked to borrow our kids for the walk.  He had constructed a double-decker carrier for his own kids (who, as you can see from the pictures, are far too big to fit in it anymore), but had made a tradition of walking with this contraption.  We walked with him in NYC last year with the kids in it, so we agreed to do it again this year (only in Asbury Park, NJ).  Here are some photos from that event.

Here is daughter, now far too old to ride, helps get our kids situated.

It was a very overcast and cool day.

Atlantic Highlands, NJ