There are a handful of times every person's life that they shall never forget. For most of us, 9/11/2001 was one of those horrible days that you actually wish you could forget, or wake up from as if it was all a bad dream.
So where were you on 9/11/2001? For me it was what seemed like an ordinary morning - I left my house and drove into work. Me and a handful of other sales people were in the office early - and were shooting the breeze, checking our emails - doing what we always do. Then all the sudden my friend Robb got a call from his brother in Boston. He worked for a large Wall Street firm - and they'd gotten a call from a colleague in NY that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers. So of course we all opened a browser and started combing CNN, The Washington Post, Fox News - anything we could find. Then the floodgates open - the news was everywhere. That a plane had in fact hit one of the towers. The rest of the morning kinda bleeds together but I do remember that we all stopped working and gathered in a conference room to watch the horrible news unfold on TV - and started making phone calls to loved ones.
One thing that really stands out in my mind was my drive home... we lived very close to Dulles airport and I lived close to my office. At any given time there were airplanes flying over us because we lived along the flight paths to Dulles. Well during this ride home I just remember being scared - because although planes had been grounded, there were still many planes that had not be accounted for and I was very paranoid, often looking out the window while I listened to the local news radio station on the edge of my seat anticipating what was going to happen next.
The rest of those days to follow are kind of a blur as well - what I remember most is spending hour upon hour in front of the television, wanting to know more about what had happened and why. On 9/11/2001 I was pregnant with Justin but I did not know it yet. The following week we went to the Outer Banks with friends and when I got home I did a pregnancy test which confirmed I did in fact have a little bun in the oven. The timing could not have been better, after what happened on that day, 9/11, my perspective on life changed dramatically. Priorities shifted - and things changed. I was both thankful to have this baby coming into the world, but also very afraid as the world seemed to hang in a fragile state in my mind those days following the attacks.
One thing I am not looking forward to is answering questions from my children about 9/11 and about terrorism. I wish I could someday look my children in the eye and truthfully tell them that there are not people in the world who hate Americans and our way of life, that there are not people who want to hurt us, even kill us. It brings a tear to my eye to even have to think about having those conversations.
The families and friends of all the victims of the 9/11 tragedies remain in my prayers. God bless America and those who protect us - I for one am very grateful.
