I was only in first grade when 9/11 happened back in 2001. There was a lot of paranoia about potential terrorist attacks in the weeks following 9/11. The Anthrax Attacks were a major headline, and daddy took them very seriously. Like absurdly seriously. If you don’t know what the Anthrax Attacks were, here’s a pretty basic summary: Letters containing anthrax spores (which are very poisonous) were mailed to several news media offices and two U.S. Senators, killing five people and infecting 17 others.

Daddy was VERY paranoid about these attacks and thought Anthrax might get mailed to our house. Every day when he got home from work, he would get his “Anthrax kit” which consisted of rubber gloves, an economy size bottle of Purell, a letter opener and a hospital mask. Fully protected, he would walk to the end of the driveway and carefully open each piece of mail and examine it closely. It was hilarious! I have no idea why he thought he would be the target of an Anthrax attack since he was neither a newsperson nor a Senator, but there was no talking him out of it.