story7494.xml

story7494.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-15

My day started off like any other day. I was getting ready for work when the telephone started to ring. It was my mother asking me if I was watching the news. I informed her that I wasn't that I was listening to a music cd while getting ready for work. My mother stated that a plane just hit one of the twin towers. So I turned on the television and watched one of the twin towers with a big gaping hole in it. I told my mom that it was a beautiful day in New York, how can someone hit the tower? I can understand if it was foggy or rainy but it is a crystal clear sky. My mother and I talked for a few minutes wondering what kind of malfunction happened on the plane. Then I told her I had to go a finish getting ready for work. I was just about to turn off the television when I saw the second plane hit the other tower. Then I knew that our nation was under attack. I sat in horror over what I just saw. I kept thinking am I dreaming this? When will I wake up from this nightmare? I called my mom right away and we both could not believe in what we just saw. After a few minutes of staring at the television I realized I will be late for work. Riding in my car to work was done in a daze. Thank God that I only live a few minutes from work. Once there, my co-workers and myself were watching the television in our lounge. I finally went back to my desk to find my telephone ringing. It was my best friend asking if I knew what happened. I told her about my morning experience and that I couldn't believe that it did happen. While I was on the telephone with her, one of my co-workers came to inform me that the Pentagon was just hit by another plane. I told my friend I will call her back and I went back to the lounge to watch another American icon in flames. In my mind I was thinking, "Oh my Lord, what next?" Then it happened. The towers started to fall. These massive buildings which I thought were indestrucible were now no more. Then we heard about another plane that went down in Pennsylvania. Then the rumors started. I work for our local government and started to hear from not just the everyday Joe on the street but also my coworkers....Will all goverment agencies be next? I live on the coast...will they bomb the port? Before we went to lunch, we all prayed for the victims and our nation as a whole. While driving on my lunch hour I realized that no one was flying at all. Usually on any given day I would see something flying in the air. On that day it was silent....nothing was flying. After work...to be honest I didn't do much that day...I went to visit my family. We discussed the day and what will happen next. Then I went home. Alone. To my empty apartment. All day long I held the tears at bay. I got through the day with no sign of emotion. I immediately but on the television and saw the congress and senate together in harmony singing "God Bless America"....thats when it happened. I started to cry. Not just a few drops of tears but a heart wrenching, gut-clinching sob. I cried myself to sleep that night, hoping against hope that what happened was nothing but a dream. Unfortunately it wasn't. It happened.