The New Normal. 9-11-11

With Boop on the way, I am reminded that the world is a more dangerous place than when I was little. Some church ladies stopped by my house while I was home for lunch last week (I must be the only heathen in the neighborhood; I sure get a lot of traffic!) and asked me if I read the Bible and if it seemed like we were in the end days? I answered affirmatively.
I fly a fair a bit, at least I did until I moved here, away from a major airport. I guess everyone remembers where they were when the 2 planes hit the Twin Towers. I was living in Indy, half watching the news, when I saw the first tower hit out of the corner of my eye. My friend M in Jersey City, were she and her husband okay? I couldn't reach them. My aunts were headed to CA, something about a plan to hijack another plane headed to CA. I couldn't reach them. Finally, we heard that my aunts' trip out west was grounded, whew! And M had to leave her apartment in NJ for a while because it was too hard to look out the window at the empty spot where the Twin Towers should have been. And I remember the panic of being on one of the first flights back into Reagan National after 9/11, listening to relaxation tapes, doing deep breathing... And then getting caught in Brisbane, Australia when the Shoe Bomber was discovered. I repacked 5 times that day, I couldn't take my EpiPen on board on Quantas, and once on board, I discovered they had my special meals all mixed up. Death by fluid bomb or death by anaphylactic shock? The flight attendant was patronizing and offered me a glass of wine. I was furious and fighting back tears.
Well, maybe it will be easier not to have 'better days' to compare this to. And the less I seem freaked out about things, the less little Boop will be. And probabilities say it is better to fly than to travel by car. And now, I just need to keep from getting freaked out about taking my Boop in the car...