story2661.xml

story2661.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I am a 41 year old college student, mother of three 20, 17, and 15, married for 23 years. I was at home preparing for class listening to ABC news in the morning when the first plane had hit the tower. I watched for a few minutes and then headed to school as usual. I was in the hall of the Chemistry floor when the head of the department said a second plane had struck the other tower. Several of us followed him into a nearby lab and began to watch the coverage of the horrific scenes that followed. There was fear, disbelief, and confusion that covered us as we sat in stunned silence, trying to make sense of what was happening. No one accomplished much that day, and we watched helplessly from the Midwest. A fellow student decided that she was going home and removing her children from school to be with them. We cried, prayed, and continued to watch. The reports began to circulate about the possible attack at the Pentagon and the plane crash in Pennsylvania. It is such a blur to remember the sequence of the events, but I remember hanging on every report to try to make some sense out of what was happening. If things weren't at their worst already, the scene of the tower collapse forced us to realize even more that this horrible attack was directed at us...the United States of America. The innocence of the lives lost, and the unimaginable grief of those left behind has changed our nation forever. I will never forget the terror of that day and the days that follow. Little by little, our nation is trying to return to some normalcy...but we try in vain...the wounds are deep and the scars are permanent. We are forever changed by that day.