story3031.xml

story3031.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

On my last day of vacation, I was preparing to regroup after my morning ritual, taking my son to school and planning the remainder of my day, then the most unforgettable sight occurred before my eyes. With notepad in hand, sitting in front of the TV, I watched what I thought were the last minutes of the Early Show with Bryant Gumbel. Suddenly, I noticed Bryant appear startled and announced that there was breaking news. The next thing I saw was the smoke, fire and the bulletin. As they began to recant what had occurred, video showed another plane heading toward a building. The reports began coming in sporadic and everyone was repeating the information over again. My initial thought was that a pilot trainee had possibly gone off course and this was just a tragic accident. As the morning unfolded, we knew this was not the case. The worst fear developed in my stomach as it did when I heard the news about President Kennedy and Dr. King. Is this really happening? But a worse fear surfaced as I wondered if we were under attack. It has been one year, and somehow as we recant the stories of the heroes, survivors and the victims, I still wonder, how did this happen? No amount of words can ever describe the emotions that must envelope us all as we relive this horrible tragedy and try to offer solace to our nation. 'One Nation Under God' is the only way we will be able to recover from this travesty and try to move ahead. Hopefully we can embrace these words and live as such.