Never forget

Today is September 11th and we may all be thinking of that sunny gorgeous day 3 years ago when so many people died as a result of terrorist attacks on our country. We should think of those victims and their families not only today, but every day.

As we are hurrying off to work, we should think of how those people at the Pentagon and the World Trade Center hurried off to work that day. They never knew that they wouldn't be coming home at the end of the day. They might have discussed lunch plans with their co-workers not knowing that everything would change long before noon. Think of them as you are aggravated with your loved ones, at least you are still with them. Stop and think when you feel that life is just too much bear, you are alive and that is something to be thankful for.

I will never forget September 11, 2001. It was a beautiful sunny day. On the car ride to work I was thinking of how it would have been a good day to call in and enjoy the sunshine instead. It was less than a month to my wedding and it would have been so lovely to relax for the day. As I sat at my desk in a cheerful mood, I overheard someone say that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I remember thinking how awful that was and thinking of the families of those victims. I was completely shocked a short while later when I heard about the second plane and the Pentagon. Someone finally turned on the radio so that we could hear what was going on. I remember sitting at my desk in shock. We were under attack and who knew where they would strike next.

My fiance', who I worked with wasn't in the building with me that morning. He was at a class he was taking about 20 minutes away. I felt very sick knowing that he wasn't there with me. I felt much worse thinking of my little boy at school, not knowing what the teachers would say to him. I didn't want him to be afraid. I kept hoping that our government office would allow us to go home for the day so our family could be together. Instead I wound up spending my lunch hour with Josh in the car listening to the radio. That day seemed to go on forever.

I felt relieved when it was finally 4:30 and time to go home and pick up my son from daycare. I was glad to know that the school had decided to leave it up to the parents to tell the kids what had happened. We talked to him and tried to shield him from the images on tv. I don't know what we did the rest of that night, but I know that I never fell asleep. I laid awake all night listening to the silence. I live out in the country so we don't usually hear a lot of airplanes flying overhead on their way to Chicago, but we do hear private planes a lot. The silence was deafening. It was the first time in my life that I felt really afraid but it was nothing compared to how the victim's families were feeling.

Here is a list of the victims from September 11th. http://www.september11victims.com/september11victims/victims_list.htm Please take a moment to read it and remember.