September 11, 2001

Judy shared her story of where she was on 9/11/01. Here's mine.

I was getting dressed for work. I had not even turned on the TV that morning. The phone rang and I answered. It was Don. He was obviously very upset. When I asked what was wrong, he told me to turn on the TV. I was standing in the bedroom and grabbed the remote. The TV was mounted on the wall in a corner near the ceiling, and I remember standing there looking up at the set. I was too shocked to even sit on the bed.

The first thing I saw was not a picture of the towers, but a newscaster saying that the White House was being evacuated. Then the picture shifted back to the twin towers just in time to see the second plane hit. Don and I both started crying then, and he began saying a Rosary in which I joined.

We didn't say much but stayed on the phone with each other for 30 minutes. I then got the call-waiting signal, and asked him to hold. It was the office wanting me to hurry up and get there because I had the keys to the CEO's office and there was a TV in there.

The rest of the day was a blur. The CEO, VP and I stayed in there in front of the TV most of the day. We would call the other employees in when there was breaking news. I just remember being very nauseous by about 10:00, and throwing up a lot during the afternoon. We were worried about the CEO's two daughters who lived in New York. Jennifer, the youngest, had a part-time job in one of the Towers, but this was supposed to be her day off. As it turns out, she was evacuated from her apartment building which was very near there, and called her mother about mid morning that she was okay. The older daughter was on a flight coming in from Italy which was diverted to Canada. There was much relief when we finally heard from Susan in the afternoon.

My thoughts and prayers today are with those who lost their lives that day in this senseless tragedy, with the brave people who aided the victims, and for our military personnel who continue to protect us.

God Bless America.