Late, but Not Forgotten

A September 11th musing.

On September 11, 2001, I was on my computer 10 miles from the Pentagon. When I signed off, my phone rang. It was my niece calling from Georgetown wanting to make sure my husband was okay. By the time I turned on the television, both Towers and the Pentagon had already been hit.

I immediately picked up the phone to call DH who is active duty Army, but worked in downtown D.C. After many tries, I finally got through on cell phone. Most D.C. offices had evacuted their personnel, but DH's building was not evacuting. They were staying to deal with this crisis. I spent lots of time trying to reach family to let them know he was okay.

Neighbors and I met in the street to try and make sense of what we were seeing and hearing. Everyone was glad to know DH hadn't been at the Pentagon that day. I walked to my daughter's high school and met her after school. They had watched the footage all day in their classrooms. Then met son's bus from the middle school, where the children were essentially kept in the dark about what was happening.

Thanks to the Pentagon renovation, we did not personally lose any friends that day. Things could have been much worse there.

My heart aches for all who lost loved ones that day.