nmah6420.xml

nmah6420.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-01-26

I was asleep on a friends couch when my husband called shortly after the first plane hit. We turned on the tv just in time to see the second plane slam into the other tower. At first I thought it was a replay, then I realized it was another plane, another building. My next thought was, "it's ok, they got all the people out after the first plane hit. Surely they did." When the weight of what had happened hit me I was in shock, I was scared, I called my parents, my husband, my job, my friends, I was scared for my loved ones and my country.

I went to work, we had a tv with rabbit ears set up in the store, I had to be around others I cared about as I watched the events unfold. Always scared, in a way, I'm still scared.

The friend I was with that morning is no longer my friend, September 11 caused a change in our relationship. She had always been the strong one and suddenly she needed me and I didn't know how to be that person. I just wanted to be alone. We quit speaking a few months after and haven't spoken since. I think about September 11 every day, I think about the friend I lost because of it. In the shadows of the thousands of lives lost it's not much but she had been all I had for years and I had to learn to live all over again, trust all over again.

Two year later I moved to Baltimore Maryland where I think about the attacks every day and what I will do should it happen again. I spend hours consoling my Mother, letting her know I will be ok. It's hard to do when I don't know if I will.

The way the country came together in the minutes, hours, and days after. We are stronger when we stand together.

Yes, I proudly display a FDNY sticker that my uncle designed, he's a firefighter in Kilgore Texas, and a flag on my car. A flag hangs in my window, the same flag that was there prior to September 11, 2001. I have always been a proud American,and I always will be. I will always stand behind my country and our Armed Forces. Without my freedom, I have nothing.