Where Were You That September Day?

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Ten years ago today every one of our lives changed. Having grown up in the 80s, I could no longer believe in a world at peace. I would never see people with my rose colored classes again. Terrorism was no longer a term reserved for the world news. It was local and in our back yard. Our country was attacked. Our citizens were murdered.


I had just walked in the double doors at SuperPages that morning and had a list of to-dos for my boss who was on a business trip in Seattle. I hadn't even made it to my desk when someone in passing said, "Did you hear? Two planes crashed into each other over the World Trade Center." I thought they were kidding because how could something so ridiculous happen? What were the odds? Surely it was an accident.

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I was still thinking it was an accident until five minutes later when the media started playing the scene on a loop. The in-coming calls stopped at the call center and there was an eerie murmur and whisper. The news reported that more planes were in the air, some unaccounted for. I had several thoughts all at once. We were entirely too close to DFW for my taste. I needed to call my Mama and Daddy, Sister and Brother. What about DarbyDoo at daycare? MyChad, who was only ChadFriend at the time, was on his way to Oklahoma City for work. I hit the phone dialing him over and over until he finally answered, flustered because his phone was going off over and over. I told him to come home. He thought he might still try to get his job done. I told him he didn't understand. This wasn't an accident, and he needed to come home now. By the time I had checked on my boss, told our team they could go home if that was better for them and filled up my tank at the fear of price gouging, Chad had gotten Darby from daycare, and they were home safe.


The rest of the day is a blur. I remember finally getting sick of the coverage on television and Chad saying we could turn it off until after Darby went to bed that night. I remember it taking me a few hours to get a line open to my parents. I remember my Daddy saying, "You better be glad you came home from New Jersey last year because I would be on my way to get you right now otherwise." I remember telling my sister and brother that I was scared and them telling me it was okay. We were safely tucked away in Texas. Physically, we were okay, but life would never be the same again.


Ten years seems like a long time to some and a drop in the bucket to others. My heart and prayers go out to those poor souls who were lost, to their families, and to their children. No amount of time can heal a wound so deep and so painful. If only we could make sense of the senseless.