In memory

Shock...fear...anger...terror. I clearly remember 9/11/2001 and the emotions we felt individually and as a nation that day. Here is my story. It was my first week of Six Sigma Black Belt training, and I had traveled to Minneapolis for the class. Ben was at home doing Daddy-duty with Samantha. Less than a week earlier we'd just found out that we were expecting Megan. The first plane hit while a group of us were driving from the hotel to our class. We arrived at the training center to see several classmates gathered around the television. Someone mentioned that a plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center towers in New York. At the time we all thought it was a tragic accident...only to see a second plane hit the adjacent tower. We watched in horror as the buildings collapsed - I remember leaning against a wall and feeling my knees buckle as it hit me that my sister Rachel was working in New York and I had no idea where her office was in relation to the towers. It was many agonizing hours later that she managed to call Mummy & Dadz to let them know that she was okay. Class was cancelled that day and Shawn, one of my classmates, asked the instructors permission to say a prayer before we were dismissed. No-one objected. Because when you come to the end of everything that you understand, only faith remains.

One of my friends was working in New York on 9/11. She was about to enter the elevators in the American Express building (very close to the WTC) when the first plane hit. She witnessed people jumping from the towers rather than burn in the fires. Although my friend escaped without any physical injuries, this anniversary is always difficult for her and I imagine it always will be.

I acknowledge that my own 9/11 experience pales in comparison to hers and to those who lost husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, and parents on that day. Still, for me this anniversary is a reminder of just how precious life truly is.