User blog:Luxartisan/September 11

This is a date meaningful to most citizens of the U.S. And while I did not lose any loved ones in that tragedy, I watched it as it unfolded on television at my workplace, less than 25 miles away. My building was on lock down, several colleagues were worried about family members (one of whom did lose her brother) and the atmosphere was solemn. As I recall...The weather was clear and sunny when I heard someone say, rather loudly, "the tower's been hit by a plane" or something similar. I thought it was a hoax, but as we switched on the radio, our fears were confirmed. Hearing the unfolding crisis wasn't enough for me, so I went up to the library where there was a small television in a back office. As I stood with a colleague, we saw the second plane crash through the second tower. It's something I will never forget and all I could think and say was, "Oh my God, the people." I returned to my office, stunned, which is when I heard about Flight 77 hitting the Pentagon and I thought, "This is the beginning of World War 3. It's really here." The rest of that day is a blur of images and news reports, along with trying to get in touch with family who worked in the city to be sure they were okay. Two of them hiked over the Brooklyn Bridge just to get off Manhattan Island, in case it was the beginning of a major war, and eventually made it home. The next few days, weeks, months...were filled with stories of students who lost parents and other relatives, memorial services and the certainty that our lives, as we knew it, would never be the same.