I Remember September 11

I was in a meeting. Conducting the necessary day to day business. It seemed like the right thing to do. After all, it was the normal routine. Little did I know there would never be that normal again.

The meeting ended at 9:18 am. My usual routine was to go into the engineering department and get customer updates from my team. The room was always a buzz of excitement, they were that type of people. I knew instantly that the vibe was different. On Marcus's computer screen was the frozen shot on the CNN website of the explosion into the first tower. The white board, which usually tracked important business information, now had the following information.

Planes Hijacked

American flight 11 World Trade

United flight 195 World Trade

American flight 77 unaccounted for

Delta flight missing

"We're under attack. The World Trade buildings were hit by 2 planes. Look at CNN."

I didn't believe what I was seeing. Marcus explained that he couldn't get any other information because the Internet is frozen.

Back into my office, my phone was ringing. It was my husband. "Do you know what happened?" "Yes" I said, "how bad is it?" "It's bad, very bad."

My team burst into my office and said they were going to the nearest TV. I couldn't stop them. I wanted to go myself. But I stayed at work.

I was stunned. Shocked. The phones did not ring. The office was empty. The employees found that person who had the "unapproved" radio in an effort to get some information.

I went to find someone conducting business. As I passed the VP's office, he motioned for me to come in. He was a New Yorker that transferred to Atlanta. He was pale and very serious. There were no words to exchange. I think I uttered "I can't believe what is going on". "I know" he said.

Just then, his phone rang. It was his wife. The first tower just fell.

How can this happen? How can the World Trade building fall? What exactly did that mean? It can't be correct.

I don't remember at what time I left that day myself. It was after the second Tower fell,after the plane hit the Pentagon and after the plane crashed in Pennsylvania.

As millions of Americans made their way home to safety, I was thinking that there would be 10,000 (the number being first recorded) Americans unable to make that trip home to safety.

The TV was filled with images that I couldn't accept. This looked like a Hollywood movie but I knew differently. All the television anchors were reporting the same horrific details.

That evening, we went to church. Much to my surprise, the pews were filled with people looking for the why of it all. We all wanted to feel some comfort that only your faith could bring us. That comfort never really enveloped me the way I wanted it to. The day was too overwhelming.

I will never forget. We will never forget.