Revisiting September 11th

Do you remember where you were 7 years ago? What you were doing at the moment you heard the news?

I remember that I was sitting at the computer playing "pyramids" - basically wasting time with cigarettes and a cup of coffee, hoping that my friend from the East Coast would pop online for a bit as was often the case. The television was on in the background and when the news broke, the game was forgotten - morbid curiousity of what might cause a perfectly good plane to hit a building took the place of the card game.

I remember my first thought... wow, what a horrible accident. And then as I literally watched the second plane strike, absolute terror set in (which I believe was the point of that day). Reluctantly driving to work, I heard on the radio the news of the Pentagon. I wasn't sure I could make it to work without hyperventilating. All I could think of was my kids - what does all of this mean for my kids, are they safe, what's next, why...? And we sat at the office with the radio on - loudly rather than just in the background - for the rest of the day. The next day we brought in a television. We were fixed to the news for days. Praying, hoping, disbelieving.

I remember I was impressed with how quickly aide arrived and how organized the effort seemed to be. I remember I was frustrated by how little I could do. I remember I was saddened to know for certain that the world we lived in was forever changed by that moment - changed because of fear and anger and loss.

I remember.