nmah2908.xml

nmah2908.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-10

I remember receiving a phone call from my friend interupting my regular morning routine. It was a simple question. "Do you have the TV on?" In fact, I did not. Not knowing that turning the TV on would only bring about more questions than answers, I quickly flicked it on just in time to see the second tower being hit.

Glued to the television, I watched as first tower came tumbling down. From my sofa in central Minnesota, looking at my small screen, it seemed more like I was watching some movie than real life. "This can't be real." This was no longer an average day, I knew that. I also "knew" that it was happening far enough away that I still needed to go to work--teaching at a local college.

However, on the half-hour drive in to school, the second tower fell, and it started dawning on me that maybe all this wasn't too far away. My ears were keenly listening to the local radio station. I had more questions than answers. "How could this happen?" "What is going on?" and "Why?"

Everything was leading to the belief that the morning's events were not an accident. On the radio and in the school halls, rumors started flying which brought about even more questions. Planes were "falling from the skies" "What other targets were going to be hit?" "Was this the start of WW III?"

I remember feeling helpless and scared and so very mournful of all those who died and of those who lived. It was not an average day, I could not conduct an average class. I tried talking about what was happening with my students. As an instructor we're supposed to know the answers. I did not. I still don't.