nmah5483.xml

nmah5483.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-04-08

September 11th was to be the beginning of a lifelong dreamed experience. I was finishing my first travel nurse position in an ER in Littleton, Colorado. I was to leave Littleton for NYC with a friend who was from Buffalo. She was going to help me drive cross country on my way to my first real "travel" job in Lewiston, Maine. My car was packed and I was ready to set out and see the big city and all the sites in between. Shift change was at 7am (9am NYC time). A day shift nurse came in and told us all that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. For some reason we assumed a Cessna type plane, never imagining an actual airliner. We reported off on our patients. I said my goodbyes. At the last minute I said, "I think I'll go in the lobby and look and see if the news is showing the plane crash." I was shocked at the horror of the first tower ablaze. Oblivious to the commentator's reporting I returned to the nurses station to tell the nurses to come and look at what had happened. When we returned to the ER lobby the commentator was discussing the possibility of a terroist attack. I stood in shock and awe at the thought of all those people trapped and dead. At the same time thinking of the nightmare the local ER's would soon be facing. I was to meet a good friend for breakfast to say bye and then hit the road to NY. All I knew was that if hell was going to break loose I didn't want to get caught away from home. Immediatly I was on the phone trying to reach family. My parents back in Amarillo, Texas, my sister and here husband at Camp Pendleton, California. I was driving on I-225 in Denver frantically trying to reach my parents at work only reaching voice mail, and only getting my sisters answering machine in California. Suddenly traffic was at a stand still with the normal 8 am commuter traffic jam. I sat idoly in my car listening the KYGO. I never felt more alone in my whole life, stranded on a busy highway, no family and an uncertain future. Now the Pentagon was hit. I sat alone crying in my car on the highway surrounded by thousands who were just as alone. I looked to my left and a woman sobbed on her cell phone. I looked to my right and a man sat calmly shaking his head, obviously hearing the same news. I finally made it to the cafe where I was to meet my friend. I rushed to tell her the news and that we must get to a TV. She had managed to miss all the action as she sat in the cafe sipping her cappachino. I spent the afternoon at my friends apartment watching the events of the day unfold like some sick Hollywood action movie that let the hero die instead of saving the day. The images soon became to much to watch. I finally spoke with my family. My mother begged for me to come home to Texas. My sister asked me not to go to the East coast at all. Instead, me and my friend Dawn, contacted the Red Cross and added our names to the list of volunteers who were available to go to NY. Sadly, the ER's weren't overwhelmed with mass droves of patients. I left a week later, by myself, for Maine, stopping at Liberty State Park on the Jersey shore. The smoke was still visible on the famous skyline. I said my prayers for those lost. I whelled up with American pride as I drove under a massive American Flag on the George Washington bridge. I went visited ground zero on December 17,2001 a day I will never forget. The sites, the sounds, the faces, and the smell of the financial district. All forever burned into my brain so that I WILL NEVER FORGET.

I appreciate life alot more and I don't take things for granted. I am truely lucky to have been born in such a great nation. My opportunities are limitless. Great men and women gave their lives living the American Dream. It is up to me not to let those lives go to waste, therefore I must live my life to its fullest taking advantage of those opportunities they gave me.

The lives lost. Let the future generations see thier faces. Don't let their stories be lost. Don't let America forget why we continue to fight the war on terrorism today and tomarrow and for years to come.

Yes, and I continue to fly the flag today. We should be proud to be Americans not just on holidays but every day.