Friday, September 9, 2011

Where were you?

It's the 10 anniversary of 9-11. So, where were you?

I was driving into work. I was still at FWC at the time and Sue (my boss/friend) called me and said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York. I remember thinking 'what kind of idiot flies into the World Trade Center? It's a huge building, for crying out loud. Surely they saw it?' And surely, they did. The way they hit it was to aim for it.

Once I realized that it was on purpose, I was stunned as, I'm sure, was the rest of the country and even the world. I couldn't even begin to imagine - you're looking out the window of your office and you see a huge jumbo jet coming right toward you - huh?

When I got to work, a lot of us met in the training room. We had a television feed so we could watch what the heck was going on. As we sat there, we saw what everyone else saw. That horrible second plane flying straight in the second building. All you could do was cringe and look at one another like - that did NOT just happen. But it did.

It was horrible to watch but we couldn't leave. We had work to do but all I could think of was 'how could life go on when these people are dealing with this horrible thing?' How could I go make some journal entries and go about the normal course of my day when all this stuff was happening? I felt like if I left, I was abandoning the people that were going through this ordeal. It was very surreal. But not for the people that were living it.

All those people. It still makes me cry to think about it.

When the towers came down, there were no words. The training room was silent. I think we were all in shock.

Driving home that day was weird. I think everyone was still just stunned. There were no aggressive drivers trying to cut you off. No one was running the red light to make it home. It was totally silent. There was no sound, at least nothing that I can remember.

In 2007, John & I visited New York and we stayed right by Ground Zero. Every time we left our hotel, we walked by the site and it was humbling.

It's been 10 years and I have to wonder....have we learned anything?

Let's all take a moment, people, and (1) be thankful for our family and friends and (2) say a bit of a prayer for the families and friends of those that died that fateful day. Surely God has a special place for those folks.

And let's not forget, okay?