unexpected memories

i love when a day takes an unexpected turn. zach and i had plans to see tracey today. she was one of zach's kindergarten teachers 8 years ago. she now lives in california, but was in ny with her husband and son on their way to st. martin for vacation. we made last minute plans to meet up for a bit saturday morning. zach and i got up this morning and for the first time did the 6 mile loop in central park together. what a pleasure having almost 2 hours of uninterrupted time with him. 

we went over to see tracey late morning and only planned on staying a little while, but found a big surprise when we arrived. zach's other kindergarten teacher, peggy, was there. tracey left dalton about 5 years ago to have a baby and peggy retired about 3 years ago. they both looked the same -- peggy was very animated and it was great seeing tracey with her very sweet and adorable son. so many things have changed, yet it felt as if no time had passed. we started a little reminiscing and spent a lot of time on the kindergarten year. 

it was such a big year in my life - zach started at dalton, it was september 2001 and the world was about to change, and i separated from my husband one month later. truly a monumental time. out of my mouth came the memory of 9/11 being the second day of school and i said to peggy how amazing she was during that time. i remembered her being so kind and caring with the kids and the parents. and then i was overwhelmed with tears and the memories of being so scared and feeling unsafe. it's so easy for me go back to that day so quickly and feel so much of what i felt then. zach was sweet and gave me a hug. 

wwcd: to be taken off guard with such a vivid memory is sometimes scary, but having peggy and tracey around made it ok...like it did then