july 7

july 7 has become one of those days you reflect upon each year. for the past three of them, something has happened to change my life.

july 7, 2004:
two years ago, i had just moved all my belongings from charlotte to chicago. i was so excited to be living in the city. one of the strongest reasons for my move was to be closer to my family. i knew i would be able to drive to visit them on short notice. i was aware that my grandparents were getting older, and i wanted to spend as much time with them as possible. only one week after my move, my grandmother passed away. receiving that phone call early july 7, 2004 was a shock to me. i had just recently talked to her and thought about calling her the night before. i had decided to wait though, until i was offered the position which i spoke to her about. grandma worked her miracles quickly though. later that day, i received a call and was offered the job. i miss you, grandma!

july 7, 2005:
i was so excited to finally go see london! luckily, andrea's sister and brother in law lived in a nearby suburb and offered their extra flat space to the american travelers. we were jumping from tube to tube and seeing the city. then, one night, we decided to enjoy a bit too much wine while playing games and taking pictures outside windows! we awoke late the next morning. amity was running a few minutes behind paul who was already in central london. we got a call that morning from paul, asking what was going on with the london underground. it seemed that it had been shutdown for some reason. along with all the other confused, stranded commuters, he jumped on a bus, only to be asked to evacuate it quickly. meanwhile, amity was on the southwest line headed toward waterloo station. With no buses and no underground, amity was forced to walk through central london. watching bbc news, we learned that there had been suicide bombers on london trains and they had struck several stations. we watched, remembering 9/11, the events as they unfolded. we were to go to tower of london that day and we would have been at one of those stations.

july 7, 2006:
today i celebrate the six months that gary and i have been together. it has been an amazing time for me and i look forward to what the future holds for the two of us.

july 7....A day that i will look at differently and notice the way that my life has been changed by these events....