My September 11th

Time heals wounds, they say. It's hard to believe that September 11th, 2001 was six years ago, but on the other hand, it seems like so long ago. Here's my story--nothing incredible--just a memory.

We were living in Austin, TX with our 16 month old daughter. I had been a stay at home mom for almost a year. The tech industry had bottomed out--almost everyone we knew who had been prosperous in the years before had been affected by one layoff or another.

My husband's first layoff was no big deal. He was at another job within a couple of weeks. The phone hadn't stopped ringing and offers seemed to pour in. That was almost a year before.

Now, there was nothing. He'd finally secure an interview and they wouldn't even call him back to tell him, "No thanks." The phone barely rang. After a few months, I was starting to scrape my resume back together.

Microsoft called and his interview was scheduled for September 12, 2001 in Redmond.

The morning before, I was sleeping with my toddler and my husband called up to the room. "Come downstairs, something bad happened, I think."

We saw a smoking building on TV and thought for some reason we were looking at a small plane crash in Chicago. But, then things became clear. We watched the second plane hit. We watched the buildings crumble. My husband held his head and cried, "No, no, NO!" I didn't get it. It was so surreal, and certainly everyone had got out by now. I didn't get it until after.

Later that afternoon, my sister-in-law called saying his parents were okay and not to worry. Worry? We didn't know they were flying into Washington, DC at the time of the crashes. Their plane was grounded in North Carolina. I'm glad they forgot to tell us they were going.

We spent the next few days crying. I looked at the names of the missing and those on the planes. I am originally from Massachusetts and my husband is from the Washington, DC area. We hoped we didn't know any of the victims. We didn't. But we still cried and mourned for all those families.

There were no flights on September 12th, so my husband flew to Redmond the next week. I was terrified and held my breath until he landed safely.

Two weeks later, we were moving to Washington State--October 13, 2001. I was trying to be vigilant and afraid of terrorists like most of the country. I am embarrassed to admit that I gave some suspicious looking folks the evil eye. They were probably getting it a lot lately.

We arrived safely at Sea-Tac and have gradually felt safer and safer over the years.

Yet, every year, on September 11th, we pause and think about that day. How fortunate we were to have not lost loved ones that day--how vulnerable we are--yet how safe we are. No matter how much or how little we have, we are rich.