Seven Years

Today is a rather bitter sweet day for me. Because of the tragedy America, as a whole, and the individuals who lost their lives or their loved ones in 2001, today is a pretty somber day. It saddens me to think about the horrible events of that day. To think of all those lives lost, all those wives without husbands, husbands without wives, children without a mother or a father, parents who lost their child, brothers and sisters lost. It is horrible and it makes my heart ache just to think about it.

As Draghkar and I sat last night watching "United 93" and then "11 September: The day the world changed", a documnetary, we had to reflect back on just how that day changed our lives, forever. You see, he and I celebrate our 7th anniversary of actually being together, physically, as well as emotionally.

Seven years ago I lived in a little town in North Carolina, Draghkar lived in a smallish city in the Netherlands. We'd "met" online just about 3 months earlier through a spiritual forum that I co-owned with a good friend of mine. There was a chemistry between us immediately, although at the time if you had asked me it wasn't a good one, but that was just me with my 10 foot thick, brick wall up. He snuck past that wall rather quickly and things began to progress to the point that we discussing the possibility of me moving to th Netherlands to be with him, but that was at least a 6 months away and with some actual time spent together in the real world to make sure it was what we both wanted.

Well, 9/11 changed all that. I had gotten up and done my usual routine of coffee, calling Drak and turning on Good Morning America. When I turned the TV it was just in time to see the 2nd plane hit the twin towers, and I just couldn't believe it. I was literally speechless for a good long time, then I explained to Drak what I had just seen and we both just sat there in silence for a few moments. The next words out of my mouth were simply, "Ok, you can come get me, NOW!" Bless him, because without question or hesitation he did exactly that. On September 19th, on the first approved international flight from Holland to the USA found my darling, devoted, future husband on a plane heading for Atlanta, Ga.

The next 8 days were a jumbled up blur as we had a lot of traveling, paperwork to do and had to take Phoenix to Virginia to stay with a friend until one of us could come back for her. 7 states, in 3 days, to take care of my birth certificate, SS card and passport, and getting my wolf and my cat re-vaccinated and their travel documents. But we made it back to Atlanta, just in time to catch our flight to Holland. We had some major issues at the airport, but through determination and the simple fact that wasn't taking no for an answer and my ever diplomatic soulmate we got through it all and boarded the plane.

September 28th I took my first step onto Dutch ground with my future husband, my wolf and my cat at my side. We've since lost Trouble, the cat, and Phoenix, the shepherd was picked up and brought home just a few months later, not too mention many new additions to our fur-family. We've also had a lot of hard times during the first few years, but we've made it through them all and will be celebrating our 7th anniversary in just 8 days.

While I still hate the horriffic events of that day, I am grateful for the courage it gave me to say those words, "Ok, you can come get me, NOW!"