To him, it sounded like pretend

It didn't happen quite the way I had anticipated. 
Scratch that.  Anticipating it hadn't even happened at all.

We were out and about in the neighborhood on Friday after dinner, and being a beautiful evening, most of the neighborhood kids were out.  Our neighbor had just bought a new motorcycle, and as it pulled into the neighborhood for the first time, everyone gravitated towards their driveway and congregated there...adults, big kids, little kids.  Cortlan enjoyed hanging with his buddy and the big kids; I kept my eyes on him and noticed the look of awe and admiration as he listened to their discussions, not all of which I could hear.  Everly sat on the lap of a neighborhood girl and giggled.  Pulling them away for showers and bedtime was difficult, even an hour after their usual bedtime.

As I was sitting on Cortlan's bed after reading him a short story, I asked him about hanging out with the big kids.  He liked it, he told me.  And then he said, "They told a story, and I don't know if I can tell you."

Immediately, I knew I had to find out what this story was. 

"Sure, you can, honey," I said, "You can tell me anything." 
"Even if I wasn't supposed to hear it?"
"Absolutely.  You can always talk to me."

A few more go-arounds, and the story came out. 

"They were talking about airplanes and that the airplanes hit big buildings and crashed and broke."

Wow.  My son learning about 9/11 at four years old from the neighborhood kids who had discussed it at school that day.  I waited for him to continue.

"Is that real?" he asked.
"Well, yes, honey," I said cautiously.  "That did happen...a long time before you were born.  Two airplanes with bad guys on them did crash into two buildings."
He looked at me, not sure whether to believe.  "Well, the pilots are supposed to be good guys!"
"You are right.  The pilots are good guys, but the bad guys on the plane took over and kicked the pilots out."
"Oh.  And they crashed on purpose?"

I could see that this was just incomprehensible to him, as it was to everyone that watched it happen that day ten years ago.

We continued the discussion for a few more minutes, and I turned the focus to all of the heroes that day.  We talked about the police and the firefighters and all of the "good guys" that helped to save so many lives.  With the conversation coming to a close, Cortlan's thoughts again turned to the bad guys, reavealing his concerns.  "Are those bad guys in jail?" 

The lines between imagination and the real world had blurred, and he needed to know that we are safe. And I did my best to reassure him.

I never anticipated that I would be having this conversation at this stage in the game.  And it wasn't until this conversation that I began to comprehend what it must have been like for those mothers and fathers of four-year-olds whose other parents fell victim to the horror of that day.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all who lost loved ones that tragic day ten years ago...and to their children and brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers and friends.  My heart goes out to all of those innocent little boys and girls who realized that day, for the first time, that bad guys aren't just on TV. 

And my heartfelt thanks and admiration goes out to the brave men and women that showed us that real heroes aren't just on TV either.

In Rememberance.  9/11/01