I Write Short Stories

Where Were You When...... you heard the news?  September 11, 2001 is the day we reflect where we were when we found out that our country, the Land of the Free, was under attack.  An incomprehensible event that shook the whole country (and the world) and I was alive to experience it.                                                            I remember being in my boss's truck, driving to one of the company's facilities in a town that was a good 50 miles away from home.  Her cell phone rang about 15 miles away from our destination, "Hey Mom.  What's going on?" and she quickly turned down the soft playing radio to hear her better.  "What?!  Oh My God!" and I turned my head to see a shocked look to my boss's face.  Anxiously I sat there staring at her hoping she'd share the information that was being told to her by her mother.  She lowered her cell phone briefly and said "Joyce, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center and another one flew into the Pentagon" and I felt the blood rush from my face.  My first thought was "How could this happen to us?  We're being attacked on our soil" and I immediately realized that on this day we were no longer the most powerful country in the world.                                                                        We worked for a company that had several assisted living facilities and one of our first concerns were the tenants of our buildings and how scared they must've been.  Most of our tenants were senior citizens and Tracy's foot pressed a little harder on her gas pedal to get us there as fast as possible to check on the facility.                                             When we arrived, the administrator of the building hadn't heard the news so we had to tell her ourselves.  The three of us went into a conference room that had a television set and stood there, wide eyed and silent.                                    Knowing that our tenants had televisions in their apartments, we came out of the conference room and made our way through the facility, knocking on each door and either let them know if they didn't already, or just making sure that there were alright.  To my surprise, most of the tenants were concerned of course but quite calm.  Then it occurred to me, these people have lived through December 7th and the bombing in Pearl Harbor that started World War II, so an attack on our nation was something they had experienced before.                                                           The staff assisted us in checking on everyone and again we stood in the conference room to check for any updates.  I remember standing there and when the first tower crumbled to the ground, my knees gave way and my body crumbled in the chair behind me..  For a second I had lost my ability to stand and I stayed in the chair to finish watching the report.   Everyone  in the building was so frightened and shocked, all we could do is silently pray and watch the events in total horror.                                                               The company we worked for had a facility in Johnstown, Pennsylvania that was about 45 miles away from where we were.  A news report inaccurately announced that a fourth plane that was hijacked crashed in Johnstown.  We found out later that it was actually Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a small town close to Johnstown.  On hearing that report, my boss and I grabbed our belongings, ran across the parking lot and into her truck to get to our facility as fast as we could.  We were fearing the worst.                                                               Cell phone lines were so congested, making a call in the truck futile.   We knew that it may be difficult to get to Johnstown so she drove an alternate route.  By this time, all airplanes in the country  had been grounded.                                                      Taking that drive from one town to another was always a breathtaking sight.  There were roads you could drive and see for miles, nothing but the rolling hills of the Allegheny Mountains and tons of sky.  But that day, it was so strange to see all that beautiful blue sky with not a plane in sight.                                         We made it to our building in record time, thanks to Tracy's driving skills and lack of traffic.                                                                                                  When we arrived to our destination, the people there were obviously shaken.  We went through the facility and checked on the tenants and staff who by this time was well aware of the events.   The staff had reported that they did hear a low flying plane and could only assume it was the ill-fated Flight 93 that crashed in the nearby town.   We stayed until dinner time before we made our way home.   It was a very long day.  A long, scary, awful, awful day.   A day that I hope and pray I never have to live through a day like that again.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              As Americans, we all lost the confidence we once had in the security of our country and it's people.                                                                                                                                                                                                 But in turn, we all became more patriotic than ever.                    The worst blessing in disguise of my life and my country.