Today, as we all know, marks the 10th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack that I ever hope to witness during my lifetime. It's hard to believe that ten years have passed. It's sad to know that there is so much hatred in our world and worse, that people seem to be more and more willing to act upon that hatred.
But as we always hear around this anniversary, so many stories of the good that have come from this tragic event emerge. I like to think that how my husband and I met is also indirectly one of those stories.
As many of you know, I studied abroad during my junior year of high school (2003-2004), just two years after the September 11th attacks. The town where I attended an American school was very close to a large military base. The mayor of Viterbo offered some added measures of protection after the attacks in the form of posting some military personnel outside of the school 24/7 to check packages, comings and goings, etc. It was on an October day 8 years ago (I know, 8 years. It's mind-boggling), that I first laid eyes on my husband-to-be, keeping watch outside of the school as an Italian soldier. Of course I could go on to tell you that he wasn't even supposed to be stationed at the school, but closer to Rome and that he was about to be discharged as his one year mandatory service was coming to a close, but because of several people being sick, someone had to fill in, but the simple truth is this: Had September 11th never happened, I don't know with any certainty that I would have met Benny. Really, what are the odds that a girl, born and raised in a very small town in Tennessee would meet, fall in love and marry a man from Bagheria, Italy (be honest, have you ever heard of that Italian city?)? God uses very mysterious ways to bring people together.
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