story7642.xml

story7642.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-16

I was home getting dressed for work and had the TV on the news channel. The news came on with a breaking story that a plane had struck one of the World Trade Center Towers in New York and they showed a live picture. For the next few minutes before the next tower was hit, newscasters were speculating, as all of us were too, that a small private plane somehow must have lost its direction and hit one of the World Trade Center towers. As we were watching this story, we saw (what we initially thought was a replay of the first plane)a plane hitting the second World Trade Center tower. As soon as we realized that it was actually another plane and not a replay of the first one, panic hit me. I thought we were being attacked but by whom, I had no idea. Soon after the second plane hit the second tower, then a news special flashed up that the Pentagon was hit by a plane. My husband travels a lot so my phone immediately began to ring with family and friends wanting to know if Walt was flying that day.

I got dressed and immediately went into work to see my husband. We decided we needed the family together so we left work, picked up my two daughters from school and went over to our parents to watch as this horror story was unfolding.

Less than a month before, I had lost my oldest daughter to a disease so to see all of the people who lost so many loved ones that day, hit too close to home. I was still healing and felt alittle of what they would be going through in the coming days, months, years.

I know sometimes we can't explain why something like this happens and why some live while others perish but we must try to look past the ugliness of it all and find comfort and good in the memories of those we love that no one can take from us.