I remember this day so well...13 years ago. It was a beautiful September day, skies a vivid blue, temperatures in the 70's, white clouds drifting slowly across the city sky. It was Tuesday and I headed to the Brooklyn Park library for a training in the morning. It was close to 9 30 when a staff member shispered into the ear of a presenter that a plane had gone into the world trade center. I think all of us thought it was a plane that lost direction...a fluke. A few minutes later, it was reported a second one went into the towers.
That's when things changed. The room became uncomfortable and tense. And then the rumors began. Planes had hit NSA, Pentagon, other federal buildings in DC...one of the presenters had a husband at the Pentagon. She never broke her stride-just kept on going with the training. At that point I simply stood up and said I needed to leave and see what was going on at my branch as well as home. After all, all we knew was it was an attack and no idea how bad or widespread.
I got halfway home when I simply pulled over and wept. Life will change for all of us.
It was late morning before I saw any video. I opted to keep my one child at school-safer I thought, as we watched events unfold in horror and disbelief. The emotions of watching so many people die was beyond comprehension and my ability to handle it emotionally.
What struck me in the days following was not only unrelenting grief, but the silence. No planes in the sky. No one commuting. No one talking.
To this day when I see clips of this tragedy, it still seems so unreal to me. I can only hope our world can find peace and harmony and the ability to live together, despite our diversity. For our future adults.
