It’s been eight years since "9/11", September 11, 2001. It honestly doesn’t feel that long. Perhaps there will come a time in the near future when I can face this date without pausing. I don’t know.

So, even though this is our Avon Romance Blog, I think it’s worthwhile on this day to take a few moments to reflect. There was unspeakable tragedy, and yet I prefer to recall the ways strangers managed to come together.

I remember a colleague who, a few days later, went down to the World Trade Center site and handed out bottled water to rescue workers.

I saw people on the streets hitching rides while holding up signs that said “Nurse” or “Doctor.” Strangers opened up their doors to momentary refugees, providing food, help, or just a spot to rest.

One author asked me to purchase a bouquet of flowers and put it, with a note of thanks she dictated to me, at “the closest firehouse I could find.” (I chose one on 8th Avenue and 50th Street.)

So, although tomorrow we’ll be back to our "regularly scheduled blog", today I will think about the many small acts of courage that I saw all around me then as the events unfolded.