story1682.xml

story1682.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-03

When I awoke on that horrible morning, I turned on the TV so that my children could watch their morning cartoons before going of the preschool. When I had turned on the TV the first images of the planes hitting the buiding were on the screen. I thought to myself that these were great visual effects for what I thought was an action movie. I checked the TV guide to see what movies it was. I then realized that it was really happening. I sat shocked and amazed that something like this could happen on American soil.

I called my husband, who is a newspaper reporter for the local paper, and asked if he had seen or heard what had happened. My husband gave me all the details that had come in over the wire. I just couldn't believe this was happening.

Shortly after that, the towers stared to collapse. I had never felt so helpless in all my life. People were dying and there was absolutly nothing that I could do about it.
I decide to go online and see if there was anything that I could do. I went to the website listing missing persons to see if I could possible help make any matches between people lost or missing and people found. I was so overwhelmed by the number of people on those lists.

I did not personally know anyone who was lost or had lost a loved one in the terrorist attacks, and for that I am grateful. Through my husbands reporting job, we have met many fireman and rescue personnel ans well as people who's lives where sadly changed by these events. I could never in a million years, understand how they feel. The closest that I have come to being directly effected by this is know that the plane that crashed in Somerset, PA, was turned around over Cleveland OH were my family lives. We have recently moved to PA, not to far from the crash site. It is a humbling experience to know that people were so brave as to risk and lose their own live to protect millions of others.

It would be naive of me to think that we will never have to go through this again. I know that there are evil people out there who hate us for the freedom and liberty that we have in this country. I am proud to be an American. I have taught my three preschool aged children to be proud of what we have and what we stand for. I have also taught them to never take anything for granted and to live life to the fullest. That's all any of us can really do.