Where was I?

When I was young, I heard others say, "I will always remember where I was when ...."
I now join the ranks. I will always remember where I was when I heard that Princess Diana died. I thought when I watched that it was the "moment" that would define the "where I was when" line of my life. I was wrong. Unbelievably wrong.



I remember where I was on September 11, 2001. Every time I photos or video clips of the day, I get chills and the same gasp of air that came from my mouth that day ... exits my mouth again. The morning that America was attacked by Terrorists I had the day off. If I had gone into work as normal, I would have not heard about this attack until I had gotten home. I worked at Belk and was always in my own little world when I was working. I'm sure I would have heard that we had been attacked, but I don't know that I would have gotten the gravity of the situation if I had not been at home to watch it as it happened.

I have a morning routine. I am very ritualistic like that. On days that I work, I have specific things I do. On days that I don't work, I still have specific things I do. Under no circumstances is the television ever turned on in the morning time. If I'm at home on a day off, I generally don't turn on the TV until much later. On September 11, 2001, I did something out of routine. I turned on the TV. As I was sitting on the couch watching the scene of an airplane hitting one of the twin towers, I thought to myself what a horrible movie. My instinct told me that this was something more than a movie and I kept watching with eyes open wide while calling my husband to the living room.

You see, for some reason, he also had the day off. "A plane just flew right into one of the twin towers," I yelled at him. We stood there in disbelief as we watched a second plane fly into the 2nd tower. We both knew at that point that this was no accident. I felt the gasp felt around the world.

I called work to let them know what was going on, but they had already received numerous calls from employees and spouses. That day, my husband was expecting a shipment from UPS. Both shipments were things that he had "purchased" using his frequent flyer miles. We invited the UPS delivery man inside to watch this obvious terrorist act. That whole day we were glued to the TV. In the days that followed, the compassion and unity of the people around America astounded me. We must not forget what happened on 9/11. We must not forget where we were on the day that America was attacked.

Let us not forget to acknowledge those brave men and women that lost their lives just by doing their jobs. Let us not forget how we felt the day our world was torn apart and also brought together. Let us not forget those on each plane, the Pentagon, the Towers and all Americans across the United States.

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!