With September 11th quickly approaching, we’re reminded of the tragedy that occurred in our country almost ten years ago. 3000 people lost their lives that day.

In the next couple of weeks we’ll start seeing newspaper articles, documentaries, tributes to the fallen and hearing chatter among our coworkers, family, and friends.

For those of us not directly involved, it’s easy to return to our normal lives and to place this horrific attack out of our minds. As a defense mechanism it makes it easier for us to function and move on. We feel it’s important now to stop for a moment and to reflect on what happened that Tuesday morning 10 years ago to remember, memorialize, and pay our respects to those who lost and gave up their lives during this horrific day.

Although we see heinous acts of murder and retaliation all over the world, we do believe there is greater good than evil in this world. We can see it by those who gave up their lives to save others; in the way we came together to support and encourage one another; and the strength that has been displayed by healing and moving forward to recover from the assault on September 11th.

In the upcoming days ahead, please take some time to remember those whose lives were cut short; not only from September 11th, but by the years that followed. All over the world there are acts of violence where people have lost their lives due to terrorist acts. Military, firefighters, police, and innocent civilians all over the world have had their lives cut short due to these acts of violence. Let us pay our respects to them and to revel in the courage and hope that has come out of this event.

We will never forget.

M&C

The link below is a timeline of events as it happened that day.

September 11th Timeline of Events

With Bike Week underway, we’ve had the opportunity to participate in several of the events and meet some fun and passionate bicycle advocates! Tuesday night we rode from the Plaza to Brookside for dinner at 75th Street Brewery, then on to Family Bicycles for their bicycle giveaway benefiting Revolve. Revolve is a non-profit organization that provides green options in areas of health, transportation, and skill development. There was a small band of people eating, drinking, and talking until the raffle at 8:00PM. Unfortunately neither of us won, but considering we now have 13 bikes we’re happy the fixie went to someone who was very happy to receive it! We did win a couple of cool T-shirts!

On Wednesday we once again biked from the Plaza (Christopher biking the 5 miles from his office to meet me at mine) to Brookside to enjoy dinner at Charlie Hooper’s before meeting up with about 45 other cyclists to take part in the Ride of Silence organized by the Kansas City Bicycle Club. This ride is a silent, slow-paced bicycle ride to honor those who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. It was a somber, heart-felt affair, and the cloudy, chilly evening was a perfect backdrop. We rode in silence from Brookside, through the Plaza, up to Westport, and wound our way back to Brookside to finish out the 7 mile route.

Unfortunately the weather has taken a stormy turn, but Bike Week is not over! Check out the remaining activities at www.bikeweek.bikewalkkc.org, and look for us at the Tour de Brew this Sunday!

Christopher and Mandy