Like it was yesterday

My memory of this day:

I was out for a run on a beautiful September morning. I remember running past a landscaper who was talking anxiously into a cell phone. I knew something was wrong, but assumed it was a personal issue.

As my friend and I ran back to the YMCA, I again had the feeling that something was wrong. Things were too quiet, the air was tense. As I walked down the hallway, people were huddled in front of the televisions in the fitness center. My first sight was something similar to the one above. The first building had been hit, and people had no idea what was happening, and were assuming it was an accident. Within minutes, we all saw the second building being hit by the second plane.

The shock and the physical feeling that hit us all was palpable. A few minutes later, the news of the Pentagon came across the screen. I truly felt our entire country was in danger and left work immediately to get my kids from Rehoboth Elementary, just a few minutes away. Apparently I wasn't the only one. Parents were flocking to the school to get their kids. I didn't know what we'd do, but knew I had to get to them. I took them home and we just cuddled and I tried to explain what was happening, with the little information any of us had. Dustin kept asking me why they kept showing that "same show" over and over. He was referring to the video of the planes hitting the World Trade Center. They were too young understand. Dustin was 10, Haley was only six.