story4800.xml

story4800.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I am a speech-language pathologist and was working as the preschool SLP for the Knox County Educational Service Center, at the time. I had just finished therapy with one of my preschoolers and one of the Itinerant Preschool teachers told me the horrible news. She said a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center and they thought it was terrorists. It looked like something out of a movie when I saw it on t.v., like it wasn't real. It was the most horrible feeling. Not knowing whether the entire nation was under attack or what was going to happen next. Once the second plane had hit and the plane had hit the Pentagon, I surely thought we were under attack from a rogue nation. I had nightmares to weeks following the attacks and I did my fair share of crying, along with the rest of the nation. It definitely made me realize what's important in life, your family, friends, and our freedom. I have since gave birth to our first child, who was conceived one month following the attacks. I hope I can teach her to respect and take pride in our nation, and to fight for it, if need be. I know I would if called upon. I will just continue to do my job to the best of my ability and I won't let anyone make me fearful to walk outside of my own home, or anywhere else for that matter. If we were to stop everything in fear, they will have won.