nmah5554.xml

nmah5554.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-06-29

I was home from work that day, sick in bed. The telephone rang, it was my doctor's office with some lab results. After finishing that coversation, I glanced at the television set, it was still on. GMA was replaying footage of the first plane to hit one of the towers. I watched in disbelief, and horror. It seemed before I could catch my breath, the second plane hit. Then there was word of other missing planes. My telephone began ringing. It was my mother calling. Was I going to go and pick up my daughter from school? Yes, I told her. If something is going to happen to us too, then at least she and I would be together. I called my husband, who works for a large chemical plant; they were put on high alert for an attack. He told me he would try his best to contact me if something happened, what chemicals might be loose, which direction to go to avoid any vapor cloud. The telephone rang again, it was my daughter. She was crying. Her uncle was a airline pilot for Delta. Where was he, she asked. Had we heard from him? I told her, no, and that I was on my way to get her and her cousin from school. Before I could get out of the house, again, another call. This time it was my sister. She asked, "What in the hell is going on?" "We're under attack," I told her. "A plane is down in Pennsylvania. I don't know how many planes are missing." She was stunned and answered, "Oh my God."

On September 12th, 2001, I drove my daughter to school. Along the way, Lee Greenwoods song "Proud to be an American," came on the radio. My daughter burst into tears and sobbed. "Mom, how could people do this awful stuff to other people?" I did not have an answer for her. So many, many things are horrible about September 11,2001, but I hate that evil stole away the innocense of so many.

The human spirit. The blessings of God. Heroism beyond measure.

We've always flown the American flag. God Bless America.