Date Night

We haven't been able to go out on a date since Brad's parents last visit...that was back in June while we were in NJ and the "date" was actually his graduation dinner. We took advantage of Grandma being back in town to enjoy a night in the city without the girls.

We decided to take the Metro so Brad could show me one of the ways he commutes and teach me the ropes so I'm prepared when I come into the city with the kids or visitors. We got off at the Pentagon stop so he could show me around for a few minutes. Our stop led to an impromptu visit to the new Pentagon Memorial that was just dedicated this past 9/11.

As we approached the memorial I became very emotional. It was very surreal to be at the memorial of something that was a part of my own history...something I sat and watched evolve. An event that has occurred in my lifetime, that is part of my life experience, and that has personally effected our family in regards to my husbands military service, assignments, and deployments.

I was thankful that I had seen and read some things that explained all the symbolism at the memorial because it helped everything have a deeper meaning and make more sense. I believe they have some type of brochure that explains things, but we must have missed it.

Each person killed at the Pentagon on 9/11, whether on the plane or in the building, has a bench in their honor. If the individual was killed in the building then you are facing the building when you are reading their name. If they were a passenger on the plane then you will have your back to the building when you are reading their name. The benches are also arranged according the year of birth. So when you first enter the memorial you start with the youngest people killed...the children that were on board the plane.

This bench shows the name of a young girl...below you will see more names listed, those are her family members that were on the plane that were also killed. If you go to their year of birth you will find their bench and then the young girls name is listed below.
You notice a big gap, an open space between the young kids that were on the plane and the next age group which was around twenty, on average. These were school aged kids...it was a school day so most kids this age weren't flying on 9/11. The majority of benches were military members in their mid 30's...this gave me a huge lump in my throat thinking about Brad working in the Pentagon and being the same demographic.
If you click on the picture below you can see a slight difference in the color of the new and old Limestone on the Pentagon on the right hand side...this is where a portion of the rebuild occurred from where the plane crashed into the building.
It is a very simple memorial, yet very powerful and filled with meaning. Everything about it has some double meaning and significance. There were several benches where people were just sitting, observing, not moving. I wondered to myself if they were on the bench of a loved one they lost.
At one point I decided to sit on a bench. I had actually thought about it and debated...it sort of felt like leaning on someones tombstone. I purposefully sat on the bench of an Air Force Major, age 35, same as Brad. I looked at the name on the bench first and as I sat down I stopped and said a prayer for this person and their family. It was actually a really special moment for me and one that makes me begin to cry just as I recount my emotions and my thoughts about his family left behind.

We had never planned on this somber and emotional part of our date, but I'm glad we took advantage of the opportunity to visit and experience the memorial. Afterwards we took the metro further into the George Washington University area of DC. We enjoyed the warm evening walking along the brick streets and checking out all the local restaurants and hang outs.

I love exploring cities and there are so many different neighborhoods around DC that I look forward to getting to visit. We had a great dinner at a small place. I indulged and had Lobster...it sounded so good, and it was...but I think I have it out of my system and I'm good for awhile!

This Dean and Deluca had a great outdoor cafe that ran along the entire side of the building. Most of the restuarants had store front windows that completely opened or lifted giving you the sense of being outside at a sidewalk cafe.
You can pay for these bikes and ride them around the city and return them at another drop off point. Very green! Grandma and Grandpa are going to be back at Christmas...so that means another date! Maybe we'll get away overnight for our 11th anniversary. We really need to find a sitter that lives closer then Texas!