9/11

The clock-radio had just gone off, and as I lay there waking up, the DJ said, "There's something surreal going on in NYC" I sat up, turned on the TV, and as I watched the first tower burning, my 8 year old son came in and crawled into bed with me. As I was explaining what we were looking at, we saw the second plane hit. I don't think what was happening really registered with me until some time later when the Pentagon was attacked. I stood in the kitchen, unable to move for a few moments, as I realized what it all meant. I got my son off to school, and headed for a dr's appointment before going to work. The office where my dr is located was quiet, the people there were subdued and not talking much. As I waited, all the power in the building suddenly went off. You could have heard a pin drop, as people moved towards the windows and scanned the skies. That was the moment I was most frightened, even though we were on the West Coast. I went into work, cancelled my meetings, took care of a few things, then went home and picked up my son. I needed to have him near me, as we hung our flag out front. I attended a memorial mass that evening, and what I will always remember is singing "America the Beautiful" and hardly being able to make it through the song, as I and all the people around me wept. I was in grade school when Kennedy was shot, and I have memories of that week that I will always remember vividly. So it is with 9/11.