story6332.xml

story6332.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

I am a Cat Scan Technologist at Silver Cross Hospital. I was on my way to work when the first plane hit the Towers. I was not sure if it was a joke, because the radio stations have a habit of stretching the truth. When I got to work, I turned on the TV in the waiting room and watched with awe at the events that were unfolding. I had to start scanning patients eventually, so we just kept coming back to the waiting room in between. We had to biopsy a patient's lung. It was very difucult to concentrate when I knew in the other room things were happening. We heard about the Pentagon and that there were 10 planes still missing. At that point I wanted to go home to Kankakee and be with my family. My 3 boys were at school or at the sitter. It's hard working so far from home. That day was especially hard. But we got through it somehow and I went home and sat with my children and watched the horror unfold on TV. We prayed for them to find someone alive. It happened a few times. It was very heart breaking. I was going to surprize my husband with tickets to the Miami Hurricane football game that was that weekend. I had arranged airfare, hotel, and a day off of work for us both. It was my anniversary gift to him. The game was cancelled the day I showed him the tickets. We didn't want to fly anyway. So we ended up going to a Bed & Breakfast in Galena, IL. It was a strange weekend. There were flags flying everywhere. The little towns we went through had flags lining their streets. Flags were flying from grain bins. People had put flags on top of cranes. It was very moving. The town people of Galena lit candles and placed them in paper sacks. They must have put hundreds of them along their river. It was beautiful but sad. We will never forget what happened that day. The pictures are still fresh in our memories. We are very glad that this country pulled together and showed their support. As usual, I am proud to be an American. I always have been, but this was a special time for pride.