Begin at the beginning...

Trying to remember how our Army Days all began brings back many memories.

First, a little background: My Dearest Husband (DH) and I met at Yale but did not begin to date until after college. At first, I was not sure he was my type--but he was very certain he was! As usual, he was right.

As we fell in love, we talked a lot about the future and our convictions. DH was going to Harvard Law and I was thinking about pursuing acting. Sometime around August, as we cruised around the Mediterranean, DH convinced me to give my interest in teaching a fair chance. While DH went to Cambridge, I accepted a job as a middle school aide and applied to the Harvard Graduate School of Education. By February, DH asked me to marry him (kneeling, in a tux, on the streets of New Haven, with his class ring as a stand-in). We officially became engaged that summer (this time he placed a beautiful heirloom from his great grandmother in a silver goblet) and I joined him in Cambridge to get my M.Ed.

With degrees in hand, we returned to New York to begin our respective careers. DH worked for one of the most respected NYC law firms and had been accepted for a clerkship with a federal judge...an auspicious beginning.

On the second day of DH's first year at the firm, his subway car stopped. He emerged to find chaos on the city streets (more than usual). The day was September 11, 2001.