9/11

That is all you have to say and everyone knows what day you are speaking about. There is only one 9/11 in our history that stands out in everyone's hearts and will ring on in our memories. Of course I vividly remember where I was on that day. It was early morning in our office. I was working on some personal injury settlement documents. One of the other attorneys ran into my office and said there was an explosion of some sort in one of the towers. I had no clue what he was talking about or where the towers were. He had a small television he kept in his office to watch the morning news daily. He brought it into Jonathan's office and we sat there watching trying to figure out what had just happened. It was extremely confusing because you could see the building and the fire coming from the top but it was not clear exactly what had hit the building yet. Slowly the news starting getting details and had reported that it was actually a plane which had hit the building. Still it had not registered to me the amount of people that were on the plane and were on those top floors of the towers. The next minutes were all a blur. I cannot remember if the second plane and the towers crumbling were within minutes from one another or if more time had passed. To me time started standing still. It was hard to graspe that what I was watching was live and it was happening in my Country. It looked like a scene from a third world Country. The dust covered everyone's face. All of a sudden everyone looked the same. They were the same color and were all trying to accomplish the same thing. Save and rescue as many people as possible. It did not matter if they put their life in danger. You did not see or hear about one person hesitating for fear of losing their own life. It was amazing and heartbreaking all at the same time. My office was silent all day. Everyone of us sat in front of the TV with little to say. Often with our hands over our mouths and a tear in our eye. The phones at our office barely rang unless it was one of our own family members. The days that followed were a rollercoaster of emotions. Fear was the next big emotion that I felt. After I had taken in what was going on then I was worried about when and where next? Was it going to continue? Should I take my children to childcare the next day or keep them home in case of another attack? Is it going to be worse next time? Is this the beginning or the end of it? There were so many questions and insecurities running through my head. I can remember plenty of those days watching television about the lives that were lost and the people that sacrificed and hurting for their loved ones. The children who would never understand why their parent or in some cases parents will never come home from work again. The wives and husbands who took the last phone calls and had to try and comprehend that this would be the last I love you shared between them. Wow....never can I imagine the strength it took for these families to emotionally heal from this tradegy. 9/11 is the day that made me realize how important it is to be One Nation Under God and how much that drove our Country to react and recover in such a big loss and huge blow to our daily security.

Now it has been seven years. It does not feel like seven years. I can still feel that knot in the bottom of my stomach when I think about it and replay old footage. It brings a tear to my eye instantly when I watch old reels of the actual rescues and recoveries. I think this day will never be forgotten and everyone will always remember where they were on 9/11/01.