A day like so many others

That morning I got up early, ug, and got ready. I had to really dress up because my coworkers Danelle and Michelle and I were heading to Kansas City to have a focus group at the School for the Blind. The purpose of our focus groups was to identify behaviors in particular jobs, so we had a group of employees who were in the maintenance and trades group with us today.

I met my coworkers at work in the parking lot that morning, and we laughed and joked like we always did. Those two were a blast to work with. After loading up everything in the van, we headed out. It was a nice morning that day, kind of cloudy in NE Kansas, but not raining or anything.

As we were riding along, the radio announcer broke in and reported that an airplane hit one of the World Trade Center's towers. We were shocked, but figured it was a terrible accident. Then, the second plane hit, and we knew that something wasn't right. We were confused and scared. After we got to the facility we started setting up, the director came in and told us that there was reports of another plane that hit the Pentagon. I can remember feeling like I have never felt before. The anxiety inside me was incredible. We were all in complete shock.

Participants of our group started trickling in, and we all talked about what was going on. For some reason, I felt comforted that most of them were men. The HR director pulled in a tv on a cart and we witnessed the towers collapsing.

We started the group, but noone could focus, so we turned off the tv, but kept a radio on low. The people completed what they needed to do and it was soon lunch. We had over the course of the session learned of another plane had crashed in Pennsylvania. We decided that it was time to go and packed up our stuff.

The ride home was much less jovial and there was so much fear in the air. Gas stations had changed the prices of gas to over $5 a gallon. There were people lined up for miles out of complete fear. After seeing this, we just wanted to get home, where we felt safe, and we drove home quickly. I was so happy to be back home and see some familiarity. On the way home, we learned of the price gouging that was happening and we calmed down a little bit.

I went home that night, held my kids like never before, and watched every newscast they had. Its like if I kept watching it, I could experience it with those people and somehow, hundreds of miles away, be there for them.

I didn't personally know anyone that died that day. I, like alot of people, did know people who knew people. Today, I won't think of the terrorists, like I have nearly every day since then, I will think of the survivors and listen to the stories about those who died.