We remember. I'm sharing.

I told Jordan about September 11th last night for the very first time. I wrote my memories from that day when President Obama announced Osama bin Laden was dead back in May… This day ten years ago really changed everything for me as a parent. I was only two months pregnant, working full time in a newsroom and working on wrapping up a graduate degree in business management. It’s hard to not remember today on a personal level.

I told Jordan the basics about planes and two very tall towers. She thought it was sad and was suprised to hear that “bad guys” are real. She actually said: “I knew it! I told Cameron bad guys were real.” She was also happy to know the bad guys died when the planes crashed. Somehow, luckily, she didn’t think about all of the people inside those planes and the buildings. She doesn’t need to know all of the details yet.

She’s nervous about the safety of airplanes. I reminded her how I fly in planes all of the time and I always come home. She’s a worried about her first plane trip since she was two years old… We’re going on a plane next month. Hopefully I eased her mind.

Jordan also wanted me to talk more about my personal experiences that day. So I told her about how I was working and had Cameron in my belly and it was a sad day, a difficult day for me to work. I remember leaving work at four so I could rest before giving a presentation in my grad school class.

I mentioned before how I have a collection of newspapers and magazines from this time ten years ago. I want to share, but it isn’t time yet for Jordan. Her 9 year old brother… perhaps.

I want to pay tribute to all of the lives lost (and saved) and to our country where so many people were inspired to change the way we share and consider community. September 11th taught us the importance of staying in touch and connecting with people near and far.

For those of you struggling to talk about today with your kids, my local newspaper created a document with tips where they handed them out to parents throughout this weekend. A few of my Twitter followers shared this link about ways we can talk to our kids. It breaks things down by the age of your kids. BlogHer’s Family Section Editor Jenna Hatfield also shared a number of wonderful tips and links from the BlogHer site. (And she shares personal experience talking about 9/11 on her site this weekend.) All links have wonderful resources that I plan to use beyond this weekend.