nmah6048.xml

nmah6048.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-09-11

I was at work that morning when my boss called from home and told me to turn on the little TV we keep in the office. I couldn't believe it. I remember thinking that maybe this was like Orsen Well's "War of the World", that maybe it wasn't real. But you knew that it was. A short time later, my boss's father called and told me to tell him that his brother was ok. His brother works at the Pentagon. My boss is an attorney and I had to go up to the court room and let him know the Pentagon had gotten hit, too, but that his brother was ok. Horror struck me so deep, it was hard to feel anything but a kind of numbness that day. My husband is a fireman here in North Carolina, so I could, in a way, relate to those firemen in the WTC. For days and days, there was fear and sorrow and horror everywhere you went. Life, we were certain, would never really be the same.

We live an hour or so from Charlotte, so we feel a little safer here than some who may live in the big cities. But I have developed an overwhelming desire to be of help. I didn't have an opportunity to help on 9-11-01, but when the space shuttle crashed in February and they asked for volunteers to go to Texas and look for the shuttle debris, I went. It was the first time I had ever done anything like that and it made me feel good that I was in some small way helping the families of the 7 lost astronauts. Now, I too, am joining our local volunteer fire department and I am currently enrolled in the EMT-B class. I pray for all those who lost loved ones, and hope that I may be able to do something for someone when I become an EMT-B. I don't take my loved ones for granted anymore and I always, always make sure I tell them I love them very much, as often as I can.

The sacrifices made by the Firemen, Policemen and the people on the planes are what I think should be remembered most. The policemen and firemen knew there was a chance they could lose their lives, but they went in anyway. The people on the plane in PA must have most certainly knew they were going to die, but they did what they could to try to change the situation. No greater love is there than he who gives up his life for another.

Yes, we did fly the flag after 9-11. We also put them on our cars, our windows and wherever else we felt they were appropriate.I don't think my feelings have changed exactly, but more like I am now more acutely aware of the fact that I should be proud to fly Old Glory and do it all the time, not just for holidays.