lc_story125.xml

lc_story125.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-12-18

I was at work on Sept. 11, 2001 when a coworker came in and announced that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center buildings. At first I thought it was an accident, a plane flying too low until someone announced that another plane had flown into the second building. Word traveled fast because our servers were jammed with people trying to access news sites to find out what was happening. Since I couldn't get online, I called my mom who explained that while the cameras were trained on the burning building, another plane slammed into the second building. At that point, I got scared and started wondering what really was going on, why was this happening and who did it?

When I saw the first building collapse, I felt like I had been sucker-punched in the gut. Some of us had crowded into an office with a television. When I saw the towers fall, tears ran down my face. I couldn't help thinking of the people who were still inside when the buildings went down. I still remember how beautiful the day was. The skies here in Kansas City were clear and it was warm. By the end of the day, I just remember the surreal feeling of it all. At times the death and destruction didn't seem real.

The events of Sept. 11 woke a lot of us out of our complacency. For the first time, we had been attacked on our own soil. Who ever thought that would happen? The biggest challenge was explaining what happened to my then eleven-year-old son. He was very afraid as I was and wanted to know why the attacks happened and who would do this to our country? I have always considered myself to be an informed person. Now I find myself seeking more information - trying to get behind the headlines to educate myself about different countries and their peoples. We need to all understand why certain people feel the way they do about our country. Unfortunately, others don't share our view of grandness and invincibility.