TWO DATES
11/9/1989 - 9/11/2001

On the first date, I'd just learned I was going to be a father.

On 11/9/1989, the Berlin wall came down.
The cold war was over.
I realized that my child would grow up without fearing the Russian's bombs.
The fear I always had as a child.
I cried with relief. And hope.

On 9/11/2001, the planes crashed.
The twin towers came down.
The terrorists came to America.
Our children got something new to fear—terrorists.
A fear worse than I had as a child.
I cried with anguish. And despair.

How can I tell my children?
How sorry I am.

© Jeff Offutt, 9/11/2006