story664.xml

story664.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-05-22

I was in the shower, getting ready for work. My husband came into the bathroom, saying, "hey, are you listening to the news?" (we have a radio in the shower) - "what is this about the tower in New York and some plane crash?" I didn't know what he was talking about - but it could have been anything. We had been fighting for a few days, and I wasn't in the best mood. I said, "I don't know..."

By the time I came out of the bathroom with a towel on my wet hair, he was standing in the middle of the living room watching the news - one of the towers had been hit. How awful, a plane that went awry, a bad accident. "what happened?" I said, still feeling removed.

As we watched, the other plane came slicing through the sky, and that moment - that horrible moment that I'll never forget for the rest of my life - when that plane disappeared - making the silhouette of its now ruined frame in the body of the building and bursting out the other side in a black belch of horror. The orange flame, the black smoke - my gasp - the shock. My husband and I, both 24 years of age, innocent, looking at each other in disbelief - I don't ever remember feeling so forlorn, lost, strange. No one in the entire world could answer my question at that moment - why?

I was afraid and I wanted someone to hold me. I got online right away and found my best friend online - my friend in New York. We started calling our other friends in New York. As we sat watching, word came of the plane at the Pentagon. That's when I lost it. Our country. My life. My home. They are going to take it all away. Where is my president? Where is my family? What is happening?

I called my boss - we work with international students at a university - he said to come as soon as I could pull myself together, because we had a lot to do - we needed to find the students.

I cried all the way to work, listening to the confused news reporters on the radio - no one knowing what to say, how to interpret what was happening. They just kept saying it over and over, "Again, apparently two hijacked planes have crashed into the world trade centers in New York, and an unconfirmed third crash has occurred at the Pentagon..." shock in their voices.

When I arrived at work, televisions were on everywhere. Everyone stood with the same look in their eyes. Five of us stood around the doorway in my office watching - and when the towers started to collapse, we were beyond being able to speak. I felt like a child - looking for the adult in the room who could explain. But we were all doing the same thing.

I broke later in the morning and sobbed on my colleague's shoulder. We called in the Arab students and told them to stay close to us - we didn't want them to experience any retribution.

I can't write any more right now.