nmah77.xml

nmah77.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-07-14

I will always remember orange walls and the ringing of the phone when I think back to innocence lost. I was in the very outdated orange shower of my newly purchased home getting ready to head to work at Eastern Washington University in an hour. I first knew something was wrong when my phone kept ringing and ringing. After the tenth ring I ran from the shower dripping to grab the phone. When I picked it up all my mom could say was, "Turn on the TV." The television came on with the Twin Towers burning on the screen. I still did not understand what was happening when my second line beeped. I answered it and my husband, who had been at work for two hours, kept saying over and over, "Can you believe what the terrorists have done?" Slowly I got off the phone with both my mom and husband to watch the news as it unfolded. This had occurred three thousand miles away but as I drove my sixteen mile commute that morning, I had never felt so vulenrable or so alone. The rest of the day truly was a blur. We all had radios on at our desks. We listened to them in silence and in shock but we could not turn them off. They were our link to that still unbelievable series of events that I still could not fully comprehend.

I think my life has been affected despite my physical distance from the attacks in New York and Washington DC. I will always remember the evening of September 10th. I spent a late summer evening in my back yard playing fetch with our new puppy while catching up with my best friend who was starting her second year of law school in Chicago. That evening was so innocent and carefree. A few times planes flew overhead as they prepared for landing at Spokane International Airport. I never could have imagined the next time I saw a passenger plane fly overhead I would cringe and think of a fuel laden missle. The next morning and every morning there after have been seen through a different set of eyes... eyes that are a little more wary, emotions that are a little more raw and commitment to freedom and a nation that I have an unbelievable appreciation for.

I think the spirit of the people who directly experienced the attacks and the fashion in which our country united in the midst of such turbulent events.

My very patriotic husband insisted we fly a flag the first day we moved into our newly purchased home in August. I admittedly rolled my eyes at his insistence but smiled when he put the flag up. On the morning of September 12th as I walked out my front door, I saw that flag as if for the first time. Suddenly I truly understood the meaning behind the flag. Freedom and the values our nation was founded upon were under attack. Freedom and values I had taken for granted all my life became tangible and deeply appreciated. For the first time since childhood I swelled with pride at the thought of being an American. The flag represents all the opportunities I have been given as a citizen and it does hold a new meaning for me since the events of September 11th.