I was at work. The Woodsman and I worked 12 hour days then, for a Fortune 100 company, making printed circuit assemblies for test and measurement equipment. We started at 6am. One gal came in talking about a plane that had crashed into one of the twin towers in New York. I thought it had to have been some random accident with a small plane.
I was compiling a quality report. I had my radio on quietly. I had to get the report ready for an early morning review of issues in the last 24 hours. Status report—quality engineering. I hear the news on the radio that a second plane had flown into the other tower.
I knew at that moment we were under attack.
All the TVs at work were tuned to the news. I watched the towers fall, heard the thunk-thunk-thunk of jumpers (before the news media had the good sense to stop airing it). I know I’ll never forget. It was traumatizing enough through the TV, I cannot imagine being there.
I was about 7 months pregnant with Cosmo at the time. I spent weeks wondering what kind of world I was bringing a child into. The stock market was shut down… the entire economy came to a screeching halt. Our world changed on that day. The threat is still there, hanging out, waiting for us to get comfortable. Laughing at our Airport Security Initiatives, planning, plotting.
No use living in fear, however. Besides, I know where I’m going when my time comes. There’s nothing to be afraid of. “They” can’t take that away from me.
No comments:
Post a Comment