story5669.xml

story5669.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

My name is Martha L.Bradley. I am married and a mother of four beautiful daughters. On September 11, 2001 I was in my last semester of Nursing school and going about a typical Tuesday morning, performing my clinical hours at Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St.Francis Campus, in Wichita, Kansas. One of the hospital physicians came onto the unit, an oncology unit, and told us the World Trade Center had just been hit by an airplane. Shocked and concerned, we rushed to the medication room, where we turned on a radio, only to hear more terrifying news. An explosion of unknown source had just occurred at the Pentagon. At that moment, I feared great trouble for our nation, and for my family. I knew we had major trouble on our hands. The news continued only to get worse over the next several hours as I cared for my patients and tried not to show my fear and sadness. I couldn't wait to get home to my family. We were all glued to the television in the following days and weeks. I spent time with my family and began to look at life and liberty a little differently than before. I realized how I had taken for granted my safety and believed that acts of war only happened on foreign soil.
I was very proud however, of our President...George Bush, for his actions and words of comfort to our nation. I marveled at his courage and ability to recognize our need to hear about God. He didn't for one minute worry about how some may view his discussions, which openly talked about the Lord and His presence in and with our nation.
It has been a year now, and I do feel safe in America and I continue to admire all of our leaders. I love my family as I always have, but I make a point to tell them more often, and I encourage patriotism in my children. All of those lives were not lost in vein. The Lord has a plan, and we must accept and trust Him with our lives. God Bless America...God Bless All.
Martha L. Bradley