Where was I?

I often hear of people remembering where they were major events occurred in history. For instance, the bombing of pearl harbor, the assassination of JFK and Martin Luther King, Jr. come to mind. It is still hard to believe that I have one of those moments in my life too.

9/11/01

I can't forget that I was pregnant with Connor, my first son at the time and I had just finished getting ready to go out into the field with my job at The Iams Company as a representative for Eukanuba Veterinary Diets. I got a call from a dear friend and co-worker, Paula who I talked to almost every day at the time. She informed me that one of the towers at the World Trade Center was on fire and to turn on the news because it was really big. (She knew I am not a big fan of the news, I'm still not) I remember it seemed to take forever before we all knew what happened and it was absolutely terrifying to watch the live coverage. We were told to stay home from work and so many of us were just glued to the TV and calling each other trying to make sense of what was happening in our country. The images of people jumping from those buildings was truly horrific.

I remember after so many of hours of this, I longed to just do something normal. I had this incredible need to leave the house and to not be scared. It sounds silly to me now, but I wanted to just celebrate the fact in a few months I would be a mom and I wanted to ignore the fact that it would be a different world from that moment on that he grew up in. So, I left and went to Babies R Us to buy something that I needed for "the baby". I had planned to get a "crying baby doll" to get the dogs used to the sound which I heard would be helpful for them to adjust to the big change. I had been putting it off and looking back now, I think I just had the need to fulfill a plan and know that I could. In a small way it gave me hope that I needed. The roads seemed empty for southern California and the store did too. People everywhere were shell shocked and I bought my doll and went home.

Truthfully, I don't remember much more of the day than that. What I do remember is coming out of the bedroom every morning for a week up way before my alarm went off, and asking Bryan the same question met with the same answer...."Did they find anyone alive?" I can literally see the face of one woman in particular being interviewed on the news holding on to the hope that people were alive in this basement and that her husband was one of them. It was devastating and sad and senseless. My heart broke for days on end and wept with the people that lost loved ones in that tragedy.

I've seen the memorial at Pearl Harbor and studied it at school. I remember learning about Martin Luther King and JFK and I know one day this event, this day, is something I will teach to my own kids. It will be different to teach something that I lived through as history. One day I might take them to the memorial and share with them what I remember and I hope we use it as a reminder to be grateful for our very lives. Today, I pray that those who suffered personal loss on that day are feeling comforted, and that the memories of their loved ones are sustaining them through yet another year.