story4550.xml

story4550.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I had just returned from taking three of our five children to school. Because my job afforded me the luxury of working from an office at home, I began my normal morning routine. At 8:55 I walked from our house to the office that was located a mere 30 steps away. My mother-in-law was at her desk weeping into the phone. My brother-in-law John was standing in front of the television. As I rounded the counter that seperated the "break-area" from our desks I saw the pictures on the television. Within minutes the second plane struck and I was immediatly on the phone to my father. I was, of course, hysterical. After he had calmed me down, I walked to the house, where I called our oldest daughter, Tricia, who was a Freshmen at the University of Georgia. The phone woke her up and I had to break the news to her. Her best friend's father worked at the Pentagon, so her first order or business was to call Becky and see if she had heard from her dad. She also wanted to come home! I called my husband, who was out with our company's tree crew and made sure he was OK. I told him I wanted to go and get the kids from school, but I did not want to disrupt their day....motherly selfishness finally took over and I went to get them. Our two year old was thrilled that her Bubby and Bubba were going to be home for the day. I called my sister in Colorado to let her know what was going on. She was totally unaware of what was happening. I struggled with whether or not to let the kids to watch too much television. Finally, I decided to let the watch and ask questions. Jim and I explained as best we could....we were both so emotional. First and foremost in our explainations was that they were safe and that God was with us and that he loved us. God knew eveyone who perished this day and we have assurance that he will be with us in our final moments. This seemed to satisfy them and they went about their "day off". Our family will never forget this day. Strangely, it has drawn us closer to God and to each other as well as to the stranger that passes on the street.