I still remember as clear as day where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news about the horrible terrorist attacks on 9/11/01.  I was at home watching Good Morning America waiting for Lara Spencer to host a segment on maternity fashions.  During the commercial I decided to change my 18 month old daughter’s diaper.  I had her on the changing table and heard Diane Sawyer break in stating that an airplane or something had hit one of the World Trade Center Towers.  I did not think it was that big a deal to be breaking news as I envisioned a small, single engine plane with minimal casualties or fatalities … until a few minutes later, both Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson reported that a second airplane had hit the second tower removing any doubt that New York city was under a terrorist attack.  It was clear.  The chaos ensued right away.

I finished changing my daughter and got on the phone to my sister in Denver.   We were in shock because by now the reports were coming in on all the news channels.  My sister had not heard the news until I told her to turn on the tv.  We said goodbye in order to keep watching.  Within a few minutes, my sister was calling me back to ask about the Pentagon.  I was like “what about it”?  She said it had been hit.  I don’t know how I missed it but I did.  Then turning my attention back to the news, my worse fears were starting to materialize.  My husband worked close to the capital building and I could hardly get my words out to tell my sister I had to go and check on my husband.

I had a 2 and a half year old son who I went ahead to get ready for school thinking it was business as usual.  But no.  By then we had heard about the plane crash in Pennsylvania.  I got a hold of my husband and asked him to please come home.  I did not have to ask as the employees were told to go home.  He found a way out taking the 301 across the Harry Nice Memorial toll bridge from Maryland to down to Fredericksburg, Virginia and traveled back up to northern VA where we lived in Alexandria.  We did not see him until 8:00pm that evening.  Better late than never as I know lots of people never made it home at all.  Where were you on 9/11?