story6044.xml

story6044.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

On Tuesday mornings at 9am, we always have a sales meeting. My boss, who was late, usually assembles last minute reports and information for our COO, so I assumed her responsibilities. I asked the COO if he needed anything, he said he had all his papers, but gave me his car keys and asked me to go downstairs to his car and get his cellphone which he'd forgotten to bring in with him. It was about 8:55am, I walked past my car in the parking lot, keeping a watchful eye on someone who had parked next to me and was a little too close when he opened his door. I got to Dick's car, retrieved his phone and was proceeding back to the office when I saw Maureen, our CFO, arriving. I waited for her and when she emerged from the car she was pale, shaking and was on the verge of tears, and the first thing she said to me was "have you heard?". She runs the company with her husband Tom, and my first thought was that something had happened to Tom or their two boys. She then explained to me that a plane had hit the WTC. I was speechless, and torn between thinking it was an unfortunate accident or terrorism. We both made our way to then office in a state of shock - by the time we got to the conference room, the television was on and everyone was aware of what had happened. I work at the front desk and when I got back there, the radio had switched to live news and we heard that two planes had hit. I called my husband, who had taken that week off to build a deck, and he immediately put the tv on. The rest of the day, until we were told we could leave at 2:30, passed in a blur - no work got done, I was speaking with my husband every few minutes, and it just seemed like one thing after another - the WTC, the crash in Pennsylvania, the Pentagon - an overwhelming feeling of what next ? Many times, I was tempted just to pick up my things and go home, all I wanted was to be somewhere safe with the man I love, I kept thinking, maybe they're targeting all places of business, I don't want to die here, I want to be with Michael. I have never felt so many emotions simultaneously - fear, sadness, trepidation, anger, confusion, love - it was very hard maintaining my composure at work. When we were told we could leave at 2:30, the tears came in my car - I probably drove a little over the speed limit, but I just wanted to get home - and when I did, the television was on and I saw for the first time the awful images which up until then I'd only heard on the radio. I still find it incomprehensible that human beings, no matter what they believe is right, or what God they believe in, can be so incredibly evil to other people. That night we just tried to take the day's events in and make some sort of sense of it all, and I was just so grateful to be in my home with my family, unlike so many innocent people gone before their time.