Wednesday, September 17, 2008

September Featured Relative of the Month, No. 3


Riddle
: What key can't open doors?

A is our youngest and only Millennium grandchild, a child of the 21st century. Born 1 week after 9/11, our precious sweetheart spent much of her first month in a large medical center. Today she talks and sings beautifully, loves to run, play, go to school and ride on the schoolbus. This little poem describes her day:

Starting School (author unknown)
A, B, C, D, E School is where I want to be.
F, G, H, I, J Learn to read and write each day.
K, L, M, N, O Boys and girls we like to know.
P, Q, R, S, T Sharing time for you and me.
U, V, W, X, Y Now it's time to say goodbye.
Z, Z, Z, Z, Z School is where I want to be!

Let's look back on the last 7 years:
A's Timeline: 2001-2008
2001: George Walker Bush inaugurated as President of US.
11 Sep 2001: Islamic terrorists hijacked 4 fully fuelled passenger airplanes and flew 2 jets into the World Trade Center twin towers in NYC, resulting in about 3,000 deaths; a 3rd jet was flown into the Pentagon, with about 200 deaths, while the 4th jet was heroically brought down in PA farmland, with about 50 deaths. The events of that terrible day cut the year into two distinct parts. The 8 months prior to 9/11 seemed like a distant dream of more innocent times. [A few days afterward, I remember reading an August newspaper and thinking what frivolous, childish things we were concerned about 'back then'. In the following months, we saw American flags flying everywhere, also on T-shirts, car antennas and bumper stickers.]
More money is spent on video games than movies; Satellite radio begins; Microsoft Windows XP (short for "experience") in Oct; iPod launched in Oct; Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube introduced in Nov; Enron bankruptcy; first space tourist pays $20 million to board Space Station; Movies: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone opened Nov 16; Fellowship of the Ring; Monsters, Inc; Shrek; Jurassic Park III; Dr. Dolittle 2; Spy Kids; The Princess Diaries.
2002: TV: American Idol premieres; Movies: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; LOTR: The Two Towers; Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones; Men in Black II; Spy Kids 2; Stuart Little 2; Spider-Man.
2003: Books: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Eragon; Movies: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; Finding Nemo; Freaky Friday; Good Boy!
2004: Ken Jennings wins on Jeopardy; Doctor Who returns to TV after 16 years; Movies: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; Spider-Man 2; The Incredibles; National Treasure.
2005: TV: Star Trek: Enterprise canceled, ending uninterrupted Star Trek series from 1987; Movies: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; March of the Penguins; Madagascar; Books: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; Eldest.
2006: Movies: Ice Age: The Meltdown; Night at the Museum; Cars; Eragon; TV: High School Musical.
2007: Movies: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Bee Movie; Ratatouille; National Treasure: Book of Secrets; Meet the Robinsons; TV: High School Musical 2; Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2008: Book: Brisingr; Movies: High School Musical 3: Senior Year; Madagascar: 2; Horton Hears a Who; Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian; WALL-E.

TV shows we watched in 2001: Smallville (2001-present); 24 (2001-present); Baywatch (1989-2001); Walker, Texas Ranger (1993-2001); Diagnosis, Murder (1992-2001); Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001); Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001); X-Files (1993-2002); Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005); Roswell (1999-2002); Invisible Man (2000-2002); Nash Bridges (1996-2001)

Hit songs of 2001: Hanging By A Moment, Lifehouse; Fallin', Alicia Keys; All For You, Janet Jackson; If You're Gone, Matchbox Twenty; I'm Real, Jennifer Lopez; Thank You, Dido; Independent Woman Part I, Destiny's Child; Again, Lenny Kravitz; U Remind Me, Usher; Who Let the Dogs Out by Baha Men; Ricky Martin had several hits.

Popular toys in 2001: Harry Potter Trivia game, 2000; Let's Pretend Elmo, 2000; Pokemon Gold and Silver, 2000; Celebration Barbie, 2000; Super Poo-Chi, 2000; Top It, 2000; Razor Scooter, 2000; Moon Walk Shoes, 1999; New Furby 1999; Pokemon Trading Cards, 1999; Electronic Pikachu, 1999; Baby Furby, 1999; Sega Dreamcast, 1999; Teletubbies, 1998; Furby, 1998; Bouncing Tigger, 1998.

Books we were reading in 2001: Holes by Louis Sachar, 1999; The Giver by Lois Lowry, 1994.

Riddle answer: A monKEY, a donKEY or a turKEY.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay!!! Happy Birthday to her.

I enjoyed reading what was popular back in 2001! A lot of things have changed since then it seems.

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday A., the youngest member of the clan!!!! We love you :)

Anonymous said...

I love that photo. She was so surprised! She was standing on her own for the first time. She was 18mo old, I believe.

She had another seizure at school yesterday. It's quite traumatizing for her. There is so much that she struggles with, but we're glad that she is alive today to be with us. Now we just need to prepare her for life.

D.

Anonymous said...

I forgot to mention that I remember watching the TV showing clips of the two towers falling hours after she was born. It was only six days since 9/11. What a world she will grow up in.

You did a wonderful job capturing the facts for that year. I remember when Razor Scooters were suddenly everywhere. Ashlin is the first girl of ours to pine for one of them. On her big family b'day we gave her a pink Razor Scooter and protective gear. She had been asking me almost every day since August for a scooter of her own. She had fallen in love with the neighbors' scooters. You should see her go!

D.

Anonymous said...

A had another seizure this morning. I'm glad I could take care of her. A friend drove us home from church. Ashlin and I got in our purple pajamas and took a nap together. Now she's doing fine playing with her legos upstairs.

It's amazing reading all the important events that have happened since 2001. I especially loved reading it because I remember all of them. These are all things that I've lived through and experienced.

B

p.s. I thought that a 'piano key' would be the answer!