Do you remember?

September 11, 2001



I was sleeping soundly when my husband plopped down on the bed. He shook my shoulder and my arm saying to "wake up Donna, something has happened." I was yawning, fighting the urge to roll over and ignore him. Whatever it was, I thought, he could handle it.



"A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center earlier this morning. Then another plane crashed into the second tower. WAKE UP."



I jumped out of the bed and we turned the TV on to see what was happening. All of the sleepy thoughts I had just 30 seconds earlier were shattered as soon as the picture came into focus. Smoke screaming out of the WTC towers. Holy smokes, what was happening???



I remember feeling an enveloping sense of fear. A fear of uncertainty, of unknowing. A dread that this could not have been an accident. The first plane, maybe, but the second - NO WAY. Then to hear that the Pentagon had been hit, then eventually the plane in Shanksville, PA had gone down. I knew that someone was out to get us.



Lord, please help us I remember pleading.



My father had been visiting us from Alabama. He was out late the night before and had slept in. I remember knocking on his door, yelling for him to get up and come see what was happening. He watched in silence at what he saw, unable to find words to express what was in his mind.



Then we sat STUNNED as we watched the first down collapse, then the second. OH MY GOSH. It was as if some had stabbed us, then decided to twist the knife deep inside.



It was unbelieveable.


We spent most of that day watching the news. It was announced that all aircraft were to be grounded. Nothing was to be in the airspace over the United States of America. That had never happened before. Later that morning, we went out for a late breakfast. The restaurant that we dined at had an outdoor patio. While sitting out there, a helicopter flew right over us. The light chatter that had been filling the patio stopped immediately and a sense of danger took over. As soon as we all realized it was a military helicopter, we all let out a sigh of relief.



Things that were normal 4 hours earlier, now were different.



Life is different now. This is post 9/11. We mark time now sometimes with that date in mind.



MANY fireman and police officers lost their lives that day. Many families said good bye to their mommies and daddies that morning for the last time. Friendships were forever fractured and families for always were fragmented.



God bless everyone who jumped in to save what was crumbling. God bless the families who have had to learn to live without their loved ones.



God bless the City of New York, the State of New York, Washington, D.C. and God PLEASE bless the United States of America.