To our readers

Our country's hallowed history has been pocked with days so tragic and shocking that generations of people can remember exactly what they were doing when the news broke.

Days like Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor; Nov. 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was assassinated; April 4, 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, followed by Robert F. Kennedy's killing two months later; and April 19, 1995, the day 168 died in the terrorist bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building.

Now, we are coming up on the year anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in United States history. And Sept. 11, 2001, is a day we shall never forget. For most us on the West Coast, day-to-day life remains relatively unchanged. Yet under the surface, many of our jobs, daily routines, fears and even our dreams have subtly shifted and, in some cases, are now deeply different.

In this special section, The Bee will give you a look at the ways some lives have changed since that fateful day 12 months ago.

A young couple, for example, quit their jobs and moved back to the Sacramento area from the East Coast to slow down and reconnect with family and friends. A businessman and frequent flier reacquainted himself with the joys of driving. An extended family of Ukrainian refugees waited and waited for their newborn grandchild to clear a more complex immigration process and join them in Citrus Heights. A devout Christian became so upset by the treatment of Muslims that she converted to Islam. A local legislator saw her longtime quest to improve California's public health system finally take shape and a county public health scientist found herself suddenly in great demand.

And people from all backgrounds, all over the region, told us they made a point of greeting their co-workers a little more warmly, calling their family and friends a little more often and hugging their children just a little harder.

-- Rick Rodriguez, Executive Editor