Remembering 09-11-2001

I awoke that morning to various NPR reporters reporting planes crashing into the Twin Towers in NYC. I thought I must have been dreaming. I got out of bed and turned on the TV and sure enough the horrific images were on every channel I turned to. Panic rose, my family, where are they? Dad works the grave yard shift in Manhattan. Mom and Harry, where do they work? I can't remember ... are they anywhere near those buildings? I called every number I had for them and it would either ring on forever (I still don't understand why they don't have an answering machine?) or couldn't get connected at all. As I got ready for work, the coverage continued on the other attacks at the Pentagon and in PA. It boggles the mind that anyone could do something so horrific in the name of God. I went to work and by mid-morning, I managed to reach dad. He had gone straight home after work that day and didn't linger in Manhattan as he had done so many times. Mom and Harry were working in Queens, so they too were safe. Thank God!

I looked at my schedule for the day. I had an appointment with oral surgeon to get my two remaining wisdom teeth removed that afternoon. I couldn't possibly reschedule ... considering how much pain I had been in the last few days leading to this appointment. I must have been one of the few in America that night who slept (thanks to the drugs that the doctor gave me).

Within the next few days and weeks, replies came in from friends in NYC with news that they were safe and so were their loved ones. I love that America came together in the days, weeks and months that followed. I worried that there would be a backlash against the middle-eastern and Muslim communities (which did happen). I cried a lot. Despite the tragedies of that day, I think we are a stronger people and nation. The only phrase I can think of to describe my feelings for the day is the prayer I often utter, "God bless America!"