Turn the calendar back one year, though, and the atmosphere was somewhat different. Televisions were on all day that Sept. 11. For the next few days—months, even—no one knew what was coming next, or whether our town, coast or nation would come under attack.

For many Willow Glen residents in September of the last year, the animosity toward the United States in the Middle East came as a surprise, and they struggled to bring themselves up to speed on the history of America's involvement with Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network, as well as the conflict between Israel and Palestine. As they learn, the country's stance continues to grow more complex, with a potential war still looming uncertainly on the horizon.

Now two young couples with babies position themselves and their paper plates of pizza at tables outside Pizza My Heart on Lincoln Avenue. They are not wholly worried about the ongoing threat of terrorism.

"I guess I'm ever the optimist," says Brenda Piazza, a first-time mother. "I don't think about it. There are more important things to worry about on a daily basis." Brenda and her husband, Paul, have a 7-month old daughter. Sitting with the Piazzas are Amy and Al Lang and their newborn daughter.

"It's something in the back of your mind," Al Lang agrees, "but I certainly don't waste my day avoiding places."

Life goes on, in other words.

"At the same time," Brenda continues, "you don't want to be naïve about the fact that bad things happen." The general consensus around the table is that, of the worries parents have for their young children, terrorism actually falls low on the list. The Piazzas and Langs worry more about the recent string of highly publicized kidnappings, and feel that the chances of being hit by a car in a Willow Glen crosswalk are far higher than another homeland terrorist attack.

"The biggest thing for the little ones," Paul Piazza says, "is that what we had, we'll never have again—just the feeling that you're safe. That carefree feeling is gone."

Just a few doors down from the pizza place where the two families are enjoying their dinner is Hicklebee's, a Lincoln Avenue children's bookstore that offers a wide selection of storybooks and more factual books to help explain what happened on Sept. 11. Some of the books focus specifically on the attack, including pictures of the airplanes hitting the Twin Towers, while others deal generally with the theme "sometimes bad things happen." The books are for children as young as two.

The Hicklebee's website (www.hicklebees.com/wtc.html) has an even more extensive list of books appropriate for helping children to understand trauma and the grieving process, and cultivating understanding in the young.

"You need to see where your kids are at," says Hickelbee's manager Ann Seaton. "Some kids are much more sensitive than others." Her niece, who has been afraid to spend the night away from home since Sept. 11, has just attended her first sleepover since that fateful day, whereas her son has seemed "oblivious" to current events.

"You can talk about terrorism," Seaton says, "but you've got to talk about hope, too, especially with children."

What about with teenagers and young adults? Across the street, outside Le Boulanger, 21-year old Janelle Lerma and 23-year old Jennifer Morgan are getting ready to attend a service at Evangel Christian Fellowship in Willow Glen. They also plan to attend a morning prayer service and a youth-oriented evening service on Sept. 11 at their church.

Lerma and Morgan are friendly, cheerful girls who are quick to express gratitude about the way Sept. 11 opened their eyes.

"I think it's made me appreciate our freedom more, and the little things I took for granted," Morgan says. "I also think it made us appreciate community more—not seeing ourselves as individuals with just our own thing to do."

Lerma says, "I think I have more of an appreciation for those who put their lives on the line for others."

And for Lerma, like many others, Sept. 11 was a call back to faith. "I think it's made me trust in God more, as far as fate goes, especially aligning myself with His will."

Religious leaders in the Willow Glen area report that the number of people at services increased, even doubled, directly after the World Trade Center collapse, though all said that the surge has diminished, with numbers similar to what they were before Sept. 11.

Some teens have expressed mixed feelings as they reflect on the past year.

"I think that a lot of people have become much more patriotic," says 19-year old Stephanie Holm, an employee at the Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company. "But I've also seen people who have been bigoted against people who are Middle Eastern. I also think it's a tragedy what happened." Holm is not sure what she'll be doing on Sept. 11 this year, as she says she's not aware of what's going on in the area to commemorate the anniversary.

Oliver Gleason, 19, a frequent customer of the Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company, says, "For awhile there was that burst of patriotism. Then I think it went away and stopped being the major issue."

Will he do something to commemorate the first anniversary of the attack on America? "It sounds pretty bad, but probably not," he admits. "I think it will always be remembered, but I don't know ... My parents will probably hang a flag."

No one wants to minimize the tragedy that occurred a year ago, but not everyone feels the need to recognize it formally. For those who do want to participate in a memorial service, however, there are several happening within Willow Glen and San Jose. The services around town will each commemorate last year's attack in a different way—some more spiritual and meditative, others more focused on community-building.

The Stone Church of Willow Glen, a Presbyterian church, will offer a "service of memory and prayers for peace" in the French tradition of Taizé, 6:45 p.m.­7:30 p.m. tonight. Doors open 15 minutes early. A Taizé worship service takes place predominantly in the dark and involves music, simple chants in English and Latin, periods of silence and candle lighting. The Stone Church holds Taizé services on the first Tuesday of every month, which tend to draw community members who are not necessarily Presbyterian or of any denomination but want to participate in a religious community. No prior knowledge of Taizé is needed aside from a desire to be peaceful and quiet.

"It is so hard for people to have any silence in their lives. I think people crave beauty and silence, and they get that with Taizé," says the Rev. Rebecca Kuiken. "It is a very powerful Christian and faith witness for us to be together in prayer that night. It is a soothing service at a time when we are worried that the world is once again poised for war."

At the Willow Glen Baptist Church, there will also be a small prayer service for parishioners and the community tonight at 7 p.m. Another Sept. 11 commemorative service took place on Founders' Day, Sept. 8. Prior to the service, Pastor Rich Murphy said, "We will begin by recognizing police officers, firemen, the military and our leaders, and pray for them." The service also included a commemorative video from the website www.911remembrance.com.

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, in conjunction with St. Francis Episcopal Church in Willow Glen, hosted a community forum on Sept. 10, noon to 1:30 p.m., with a panel of five community dignitaries who made opening statements and then opened the forum up for questions and continued dialogue. Among the guests were the chief of the San Jose Police Department and the editor of the opinion pages of the San Jose Mercury News.

The cathedral will also host an interfaith prayer service with Imam Tahir of the San Jose Islamic Center today at 12:10 p.m. that will run approximately 35 minutes, accommodating those on their lunch hour. Clergy of other denominations will participate in and support the service as well.

At 6 p.m., a traditional Episcopal worship service with communion will be led by Richard Shimpfky, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real, who will take time to honor those San Jose firefighters who participated in the rescue and cleanup efforts following the terrorist attacks.

In addition to the memorial and religious services around the city, the city of San Jose is helping to educate and prepare citizens in the area about steps they can take in emergency situations. San Jose Prepared! is an organization that has been devoted to increasing the levels of emergency awareness and preparedness in the community since 1996. It provides education, training and support to individuals and emergency response teams so that individual families, neighborhoods and whole communities may be better able to sustain an unexpected disaster, particularly earthquakes. There are four classes, to be attended in succession, that community members can take to learn basic response and survival skills. To date, nearly 1,300 citizens have participated in the program. Class information can be found on the city of San Jose website at www.ci.san-jose.ca.us/oes/sanjoseprepared.

"We're trying to help people be prepared for emergency events, rather than be prepared for just terrorist attacks," says Dr. Earl Stevens, coordinator of the program. "Terrorist attacks involve a lot of fear and anxiety. If we're doing all this just for them, we're doing what they want. Besides, we live in earthquake country."

Stevens underscores the importance of focusing on issues that are logistically relevant to our community, but also adds that he has faith in San Jose's building codes.

Today's services to commemorate the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attack on America will be at The Stone Church of Willow Glen, 1108 Clark Way, 6:45­7:30 p.m.; Willow Glen Baptist Church, 1292 Minnesota Ave., 7 p.m.; and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 81 N. Second St., San Jose, Sept. 11, 12:10 p.m. and 6 p.m. services.