9-11

I was just barely 24 and was using the time while I was trying to "find myself" to volunteer at a local hospital. On Tuesdays, I helped at the information desk--delivering flowers to patient rooms, placing magazines in the waiting rooms, showing people where to go, and answering the phone and a multitude of random questions. The following week, I would find out I was pregnant with my first child, and I would question the wisdom of bringing a child into such a crazy world. 

That Tuesday started out just like the rest. With my red apron and my happy-to-help smile firmly in place, I loaded my arms with a stack of newly donated magazines, and began making my rounds to the waiting rooms. When I got to the ER, things seemed strange. Everyone was glued to the TV, and the volume was louder than normal. I completed the task I had come for and then joined the crowd by turning my attention to the blaring television as well. It was reporting a plane crash in New York City, right into the side of one of the World Trade Center buildings. "How sad," I thought. And, I began to pray in my heart for the families of this unfortunate accident. Bu,t then, something truly strange and incomprehensible happened as I continued to watch: another plane hit the other building. And, immediately I knew it couldn't have been an accident. But I couldn't really wrap my brain around what it could be. I just knew that everything within me was rejecting the reality of what I'd just seen. I kept hoping maybe it was a glitch in the the playback of the first crash. It wasn't. My body seemed to be shaking and my head seemed foggy as I made my way back to the information desk. And, I could barely form the words to tell my co-volunteers what I had just seen. The rest of the day is a complete blur. Of course, the reports only got worse and the death toll kept rising. My heart is heavy with the sadness of that day, and the days that followed, even now.

Where there is great tragedy, there are also great heroes. And, many ordinary people became extraordinary heroes that day. I commend those who put aside their own fears to allay the fears of others; those who showed astounding bravery in the wake of a cowardly attack; those who helped the helpless and hoped for the hopeless. Today, I remember. And, my thoughts are with those who lost their lives that day and those who live on, some of whom are still feeling the pain of that day as if it were only yesterday.